Sub Rosa
by Kaylightly
Summary: Luxanna Crownguard had the perfect undercover job. She enjoyed good pay, leisurely hours, and easy access to the Noxian Military's dirty laundry. Things were perfect for our favorite Demacian mage, until she gets sent on a strange mission with the notorious Talon Du Couteau where alarms sound, sparks fly, and she finds herself in far too many precarious situations.
1. One Noxian Night

_Author's Note: I'll warn you beforehand, on some off chance that you, dear reader, really like this, that it is not finished and I don't know when it will be. I don't update regularly and college gets in the way from time to time, so it might be some time before the story is finished. I have a lot planned for this particular piece. ;)_

 _That being said, please do read, I'll try not to leave it alone for too long a time._

* * *

 **Part One**

The pitter-patter of two small feet echoed through the dusky alley-way, barely lit by the Autumn sunset. Lux made her way through the Noxian streets as the clouds above slowly began to cover the sky, foreshadowing a cool and drizzly November night. Eventually the blonde approached a tall, hooded man whom she recognized to not only be Talon Du Couteau, agent of Noxus and assassin of many, but also her partner in crime for the night's expedition.

For all of her time in Noxus, and as Demacia's best spy that rounded up to about two years for Luxanna Crownguard, Talon Du Couteau was the only individual she had been profusely warned of but had yet had the pleasure of meeting. Before setting out for her most recent mission in the capital city, Lux had been briefed on the abilities and whereabouts of certain notables who called Noxus home. Characters like Darius or Draven were hardly difficult to keep tabs on. Even the famed Katarina Du Couteau was easily spotted from time to time, though Lux felt that if she was as skilled a killer as Katarina, she wouldn't be so worried about enemies trying to jump her in the dead of night either.

Talon, however, was a different beast altogether. This man made secrecy a priority, and though Lux had been on this particular mission upwards of three months, she had only ever spotted him twice. Both times in the Main Palace doing business with General Jericho Swain in the glaring light of day. It was only by some random chance that she had even been assigned to the same operation as the mysterious man.

Lux had secured herself an excellent position in the Noxian military as General Swain's assistant. The job came with many perks, such as good pay, friendly hours, and not to mention, incredibly easy access to schedules, meetings, and files of the Noxian government. Still, a covert ops mission would not be one without some difficulty. Such a predicament presented itself one day when Swain asked her to run point on an "information recovery assignment" on account of "Jenn having fallen ill".

So Lux found herself in a dark alley-way in the middle of Noxus right around sundown staring up at the one man she considered to be the most elusive, and perhaps the most dangerous person in the city, prepared to embark on an expedition that, because of the skill of the aforementioned assassin, she was likely not required for.

Lux peered up at the cold man, intimidated by his height and stature. Though his face was mostly shrouded by a hood, she could make out a strong jaw line, thin lips, and a slightly crooked nose, likely broken a time or two in the past. In a way, Lux considered him to be handsome, like the rough and tumble rogues that young girls occasionally dream of.

"Lucy Proudmoore, reporting for duty." Lux said with a clear, but small, voice.

"Evening Lucy." The assassin replied casually. "I assume you have been briefed?"

"Yes sir."

"Then let's head out."

The pair walked off into the evening sunset, headed towards one of the few mansions in the residential district. The setting sun cast an amber hue on the streets and painted the clouds various shades of pink and orange, setting up what Lux thought would be a very romantic evening, were it not for the lifestealing assassin brooding beside her. He remained dreadfully silent for the duration of their walk, and Lux did not have the guts to spark a conversation. Even if she did, she was not sure there was much they could talk about.

They eventually reached their destination, an elegant mansion perimetered by a ten-foot tall wrought iron fence. Lux was not incredibly impressed by the estate, having grown up in one equally as grandiose, if not more so, but she supposed this sort of luxury was uncommon in Noxus. The assassin lead her around the estate towards the back where there was a gate to the gardens. With a quick pick of a lock the duo cruised easily inside and up to a great stone wall where Talon stopped her to review the plan a final time.

He spoke in a low whisper. "I will climb up to the window and secure a rope for you once I am settled. You can then hoist yourself up while I take care of the guards. Once we're inside, I'll need you to stand behind the study door entrance and keep watch while I search the room for the records. Should anyone show, you will first need to alert me then set up an illusion for the guard. Now I have been told you have a farseeing spell, is that true?"

Lux nodded.

Talon continued without much pause. "Use that initially to scout the hallways feeding into the one we will be located in. Once I have found the information I am searching for, I will alert you and we will leave the way we came. Tomorrow, we will meet again in Swain's office for debriefing. You ready?"

Once again, Lux nodded and soon after Talon began his trek up the stone Lux had known fighters, explorers, and thieves alike back in Demacia and even here in Noxus, it was rare for her to see one in action, especially with her current work as a secretary. Talon's cloak did a fair amount to cover his body, but Lux found herself mesmerized by the way the muscles of his she could see stretched and tensed as he hoisted himself up to the second story window. Upon approaching the window, the rogue paused for a moment. What he was doing during that pause, Lux could not quite tell, but she assumed he was performing some sort of window opening maneuver because just a second later, the man slipped inside the building.

Not long after, a rope fell from the window all the way down to Lux's feet, and Talon motioned for her to make her way up. Grabbing ahold of the rope, she slowly, but surely began lifting herself towards the second story. Although Lux was by no means in excellent physical condition, she was still trained enough to climb the building without causing too much harm to herself, or more surprisingly, causing too much noise.

As she entered the hallway, she saw a guard slumped over against the wall and a door slightly cracked open. The stretch was notably well lit by the moonlight, allowing her to walk freely in the corridor. Doing as she was asked, she set up an illusion to mimic the guard as awake, and proceeded cast a far sight spell to check the adjoining hallways, determining that both guards in the neighboring passages were unsuspicious of the intrusion. She then continued into the room, and, with her eyes still adjusting to the darkness of the chamber, nearly walked into a display table. Nearly, that is, until a heavy hand pulled on her shoulder and a cool breath whispered against her ear, "Careful."

Talon disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, but not before sending a tense shiver down Lux's spine. Though she was about ready to curse the darkness for almost forcing her to walk straight into peril and likely the downfall of their mission, Lux also thanked the shadows for concealing her undoubtedly bright blush.

Not one to dwell on things, at least when on a mission, Lux set back towards the door, closed it, and began concentrating her farsight spell in the hallway. Still, the occasional draft in the room would sometimes brush against her bare skin, reminding her of the assassin lurking in the room.

Lux stood there for what she felt was eternity, but was actually just around ten minutes. Eventually, the rogue returned, tapped on her shoulder, and whispered, a little less closely than the previous time, "Let's go."

Opening the door, Lux stepped out into the moonlit hallway, relieved to be back in an element where she could at least see beyond her own feet. Talon followed after her, but his step into the hallway unfolded a little differently than the mage's. As he brought what appeared to be a book across the doorway threshold, the hallway lights immediately turned on, and even more alarming, the sirens went off. It didn't take much awareness to hear the shouting and clamoring of the guards as they rushed towards the study.

"Shit" was all the assassin could say before he shoved the book in his backpack and took off towards the window, quickly motioning for Lux to follow. The two swiftly started to make their way down the rope, hoping to reach the bottom before the guards started to gain. Talon was lucky enough to reach the bottom without trouble, but the same could not be said for Lux. The assassin had just barely enough time to brace himself as a heap of clothes, skin, and blonde hair fell on top of him with a resounding thud.

"Sorry, sorry!" Lux exclaimed as she tried to haul herself off of Talon's muscular chest.

The assassin grunted heavily as he began to sit himself back up. "Run!" was the only reply Lux received as Talon pushed her in the direction of the exit and rushed that way himself.

Although the duo made a valiant effort trying to escape from the mansion's forces, Lux's exhaustion and Talon's sore back made the task impossible. Lux, realizing their position and seeing the soldiers gaining on them in the gloomy street, made a quick, decisive, and irreversible choice about how to get out of the predicament. The mage was not in the habit of performing magic that could reveal her identity, nor was she fond of using such power outside times of need, but Lux felt this time her spells were necessary to bail them out of this hazard.

"Close your eyes!" She shouted boldly to Talon.

Still, he had the wherewithal to question her. "Why?"

"Just do it!" She commanded. Without a second thought, she channeled all of her energy into one spell, and not even a second after, unleashed a fascinating spark of light that left all of the pursuing guards stunned, blinded, or worse.

Talon, for his part, had been wise enough to heed Lux's warning, and had shut his eyes just in time. He did not need to have had his eyes open to know that a massive change in brightness had occurred during the few seconds his eyes had been sealed. The searing light shone orange through his closed eyes, and before Talon had a chance to question her powers, Lux had grabbed a hold of his wrist and pulled him on a frantic run through the streets of Noxus.

Lux and Talon arrived at The Red Robber sore, exhausted, and drenched. As if fate had not been against them enough on that night, the sky opened up and downpoured one of the strongest rains Noxus had ever seen during their escape to safety. But still, luck was on their side as the mage and the assassin ultimately did make it into the warm confines of a welcoming tavern.

Talon stumbled in first, followed by a miserable Lux, but neither got very far inside before the innkeeper approached them.

"My my, looks as if you two have had quite some troubles." The fat, homely man commented. "Care for a room? Perhaps dinner as well?"

"Yes to both." Talon replied quickly. "How much will it cost?"

"Just three silver, sir." The innkeeper said as he waddled over to his desk and started to rummage for a key.

"Three silver?" The assassin questioned with an intimidating brow. He was clearly not accustomed to paying such high prices.

"This is a fine establishment, sir." The fat man responded as he pulled out a key. "And I will not bargain for the price. Three silver, take it or leave it."

Lux watched the expression on Talon's face turn dark. In an effort to prevent any future trouble, she intervened.

"I'll pay." She offered, placing a steadying hand on his forearm. Then she handed over three silver to the innkeeper. "Thank you, sir."

"Of course, miss." The innkeeper replied as he gave Lux the key in exchange for her money. He promptly then returned to his business.

Soon after, the pair made their way over to the bar where each ordered a hefty meal and a bit to drink. It wasn't until Lux had food and ale in her belly that she truly felt she could relax. Before she had started her espionage in Noxus, Lux had not been much of a drinker, but upon acclimatizing to her new life in the hard city she began to develop a taste for beer. She was by no means a lush, but every now and again, on especially stressful nights such as this particular one, she would find herself longing for a cold amber brew.

After nearly twenty minutes of blissful peace and dining, Talon finally broke the silence.

"I will need to speak to one of my contacts." He said abruptly.

"Can't we just report to Swain tomorrow? I don't see any reason to deal with it tonight." Lux yawned, visibly tired from the evening's trials.

She set back to her mug, intending to take another sip. Just as she was lifting it off the table, Lux felt a hand settle on her shoulder. The gesture reminded her of an earlier scene, however, this time there was no hiding the color that tinted her cheeks.

Lux peered shyly into the assassin's cold eyes, waiting for censure to rain down upon her for her reckless abandon. It didn't help that as she awaited her scolding, she couldn't help but notice the five o'clock shadow that crept up on his face and how it accented his jawline perfectly.

"There's more to this than you know, Lucy." His voice was as hard as his eyes. "Stay here in the tavern while I gather some information. Do not go up to the room without me. I shouldn't be more than a couple hours."

Swiftly, Talon stood up and headed for the door. Lux couldn't utter so much as a second word before he was gone. After he was, she returned to her drink, and began to contemplate the meaning of "more than you know".

* * *

The woman Talon returned to after his outing was far less put together than the woman he had left at the establishment. Though Lux was only buzzed, she was annoyed and indignant enough to forget her place, his standing, and their predicament. In her mind, his atrocities against Luxanna kind, leaving her cold, wet, and tired in an unfamiliar tavern, were enough to warrant a little yelling.

"Took you long enough!" The blonde exclaimed as he walked up to her at the bar. She stood immediately and began jabbing one small index finger at his chest. "You can't just leave saying, 'I'll be back in a couple of hours, don't move'! You should be happy I'm so used to taking orders otherwise I'd have bathed and bedded myself already! Don't you have any compassion? Or better yet, you could have told me what all the fuss is about! If I had known what the-"

Lux ceased her rant immediately as piercing eyes and a cold expression leaned in close. She looked up at the assassin with what she assumed was an incredibly red face, still intent on continuing her rage, but at a loss of words to continue it with.

"Hush." He said firmly, cool breathing bouncing against Lux's cheeks. "We can talk in the room."

As soon as the man's stare released her from her prison, Lux reopened her mouth to give Talon a piece of her mind, but the blonde was silenced by a simple touch from the cold blooded killer. An unyielding hand came to rest on the small of her back, directing her towards the staircase. She followed along for the moment, still fully intending to resume her tirade once she was given a reprieve from his proximity.

Once they reached the room, Lux fumbled around for the key, but because of cold hands, and not just her own, she dropped the metallic object on the ground. Flustered, Lux bent to the floor to retrieve the key, and after taking much too long to pick the damn thing up, she finally returned to full height and began to open the door. As she turned the knob, Lux swore she heard a soft chuckle emanate from the assassin lurking behind her.

Finally, as she entered the bedroom, released from his touch, gaze, and commands, Lux resumed her diatribe.

"So what, exactly, is going on here?!" She interrogated.

He closed the door gently and sat down on the bed. While he was taking off his boots, he responded. "We were set up."

"Care to elaborate?" Lux folded her arms in front of her chest. The fellow was clearly not a very good communicator. He would not make it very far in her line of work. Secretarial work, that is.

But then she heard it again. A soft chuckle just before he responded to her question. "Swain wants us in jail."

Ignoring his answer, Lux addressed a more pressing matter. "Are you laughing at me?"

Talon looked up at her, and while Lux was expecting the same solemn face she had grown accustomed to throughout the night, she was instead met with laughing eyes.

The assassin smirked at her for a second then resumed tending to his boots.

Lux let out a displeased cry and resolved to take care of her own wet clothes. Inside the bathroom she was fortunate enough to find a clean bathrobe, and then she was glad she had paid the whole three silver for a nice inn. She changed out of her wet clothes, with the exception of her undergarments, and left them to hang on the bathtub. Wrapping the warm robe around her, Lux released a relaxed sigh and returned to the main room to deal with the issues at hand.

What awaited Lux when she reentered the room was more than enough to draw a blush from her pale cheeks. Talon, back to her, was gingerly sliding his trousers off, revealing bare skin to the curious mage. Lux watched furtively as the taut muscles in his back, arms, and legs worked to move his limbs around the area. Back in Demacia, many of Lux's friends had been fond of ripped men with biceps as large as their thighs. Lux, however, prefered men with a leaner physique, such as the one displayed before her.

Lux was barely able to squeak out a sentence to alert Talon of her presence.

"I - I hope you don't plan on sleeping in the bed." She stated.  
As Talon turned half his body towards her in effort to reply, Lux was immediately thankful that the man wore underwear.

"Lucy," He said coolly. Hearing him address her so directly sent shivers down Lux's spine. "You can sleep in the bed with me or on the couch without me. It's your choice."

Huffing loudly, Lux stormed over to the bed, picked up the fluffiest pillow _and_ the duvet, sat herself down on the couch, and muttered, "Bastard."

For the third and final time that night, Lux caught the sound of a soft chuckle. Annoyed with the man and her own ridiculous reactions to him, Lux tucked herself in the comforter, finding sanctuary in the soft feel of the fabric. Perhaps it was the booze, or the exhaustion from running from mansion guards, but regardless the cause, Lux quickly drifted off to sleep on the couch, many questions still to be answered.


	2. Set Sail

Lux was the first to arise the next morning, for a possible multitude of reasons. The first being that she had always been an early riser. She was not the heaviest sleeper and morning light always forced her eyelids a-flutter. The second reason dealt with the surface she had been sleeping on. Unlike many soldiers she knew, Lux could not just sleep on anything. Sure, she had dealt with her fair share of sleeping bags before, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it. As it turns out, the couch wasn't much better.

The last reason probably had to do with the previous night's events. Considering the failed mission, her unanswered questions, and the dangerous killer sleeping in the same god-forsaken room, it was no wonder Lux woke early that morning.

The rising sun shone golden through the blinds into the sleepy room, allowing Lux easy movement to the bathroom. Whispering a thankful prayer as she pulled on her miraculously dry clothes, Lux contemplated how to handle the situation before her.

With her newfound sense of mind that came from a good rest, Lux was surprised she had even woken up this morning at all. Given the outcome of the mission, the man she was working with, and the way he hid all the information from her, thoughtful Lux was now quite a deal more suspicious of the assassin sleeping in the bedroom. Still, he had not killed her yet, though she had been massively unguarded throughout the night.

But that did not change the fact that Lux needed answers. She could hardly believe that she hadn't been able to get a useful amount of information out of the rogue the previous night, and for that she blamed the alcohol. Still, as she walked back into the bedroom and studied the blissfully sleeping assassin, she wondered how she was even going to wake him in the first place.

Lux regarded the man for quite sometime, slightly impressed by how few scars marred his face. From her vantage point she could only count two, and small ones at that. Still, the man had a rugged complexion to him, one that the blonde had not been able to fully discern the previous night when his hood had shadowed most of his face.

It was at that moment that it struck Lux as odd that Talon had even gone to sleep. For the shifty man he seemed to be, he was putting an awful lot of trust in her not to kill him. But she supposed that men like him were used to sleeping with knives at their sides.

After a few minutes of debating how much harm would come to her if she awoke Talon, Lux decided the risk was not worth the reward. Instead, she resolved to roam downstairs for some breakfast. On this outing, however, she kept her baton, and more importantly, her wits about her.

* * *

Although the mage was gone not thirty minutes, just to purchase a handful of pastries and some coffee, it had been enough time for the rogue to awaken and jump to conclusions.

Needless to say, Talon was quite a bit foul when Lux finally did return.

"Do you really think it is wise to go out on your own given the fact we are wanted criminals?" He said in a tone that was intended to shame the blonde for her actions.

Talon's words did not have the desired effect on the mage, however. Instead, she looked at him with wide eyes and an open mouth, exclaiming, "We're wanted criminals?!"

"Keep your voice down." He chided as he got out of the bed. "Yes, the Jenkinses, the family we robbed from last night, have a bounty on our heads."

"And you didn't think this pertinent information to relay to me last night?" She shot back.

"I did, but you fell asleep before I could say anything." He retorted.

Lux looked away, embarrassed. It had been rather unprofessional of her.

"These look tasty, though." Talon offered, before snatching away all of the baked goods with the exception of the one Lux wanted least.

"Hey!" She called after the thief. "You can't just take those! I wanted that one!"

"Think of it as punishment for being an idiot." He replied without a touch of remorse.

"You know," Lux's tone turned sour. "You seemed to be the strong-and-silent type when I first met you and I thought 'Oh, how nice, he won't be a jerk like all the other douchebag assassins I've met in my life' but now I can see you're just as assholey as the rest of them!"

His signature chuckle returned for a fourth appearance. Though the previous night Lux had found the deep rumble almost attractive, now it was downright infuriating. What did he take her for? Some blonde bimbo? Given her job as a secretary, probably.

"And how many assassins _have_ you met in your lifetime?" Talon regarded her with laughing eyes and an obnoxious smirk, but something about the question told Lux that he wasn't just poking fun.

"I've dated a few." Lux hedged, knowing it would be a mistake to reveal how much she actually know about the business.

"Well," Talon said with a mouth full of apple strudel, "Now I understand your discrimination against me."

Lux was not sure if he had bought the lie, but he was giving it a rest for now, and that was all she needed.

Resigning to her chocolate croissant, Lux decided to address more important issues. "So Swain set us on a doomed to fail mission and the Jenkinses have flagged us for arrest. Why?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" The assassin replied cryptically. "I have a good grasp on Swain's reason for wanting me in jail, but as for why you were on the mission, I don't know."

"Maybe his plans don't involve me." Lux offered. "I'm just collateral damage. We assistants always get the short end of the stick."

"Hmm." Talon considered the thought, but Lux knew he wasn't convinced.

"I'm not a spy, if that's what you're implying." She said abruptly.

He smiled briefly and replied, "You're more clever than I give you credit for."

"Doesn't help my case, does it?" She joked.

"Not in the slightest." He replied honestly. "The only reason I'm still keeping you around is because you saved our asses with that light stunt last night. If you really were working for Swain, you'd have let us get caught."

"Indeed I would have." Lux replied. "But alas, I am not working for Swain. Other than by being his secretary."

"So it would seem." Talon mused curiously, still keeping the mage under his scrutinizing brow.

In all honesty, Lux probably would have preferred if he were concerned for that reason, as long as he didn't try to assassinate her. If he had suspected her an ally of Swain's, he would have likely left her at the inn to avoid being followed. Then Lux could have proceeded as she saw fit, which would have involved returning to Demacia, or at the very least getting in touch with her contact in Noxus. Now, she had to deal with a curious assassin breathing down her neck.

Ultimately, what Lux really needed was to lose Talon. Using her infamous final spark spell was enough justification for packing up and running back to Demacia as soon as possible, nevermind the fact that Swain seemed to want her behind bars. Though, as Lux saw things, she was more or less doomed to stick out the coming days with Talon, lest she risk being tailed by a bloodthirsty, Demacian-hating assassin.

Lux decided to steer the conversation towards a topic that she had, until that moment, forgot about entirely. "So what is with the book you stole?"

Talon paused a second, as if deciding how much he should tell her. "How much do you know about the Jenkinses?"

In truth, she actually knew a fair bit. They were roughly connected with House Buvelle, and select members of the Jenkins family had been allowed into Demacia for special occasions. As far as families went, the Jenkinses were known as sort of a moderate house in Noxus, and while the Demacian military tried to stay on their good side in exchange for information about the Noxian capital, many officials, Lux included, were still suspicious of the house.

"Not much at all." Lux replied. "Only that they are a rich household."

"Long story short, they have ties in Demacia." He was still looking at her features closely, as if trying to determine her true thoughts on the subject. Lux felt, however, that she definitely had the upper hand when it came to the art of falsehood.

"Since they do," He continued, "It is sometimes in our best interest to discover how much information they really have."

Lux nodded, listening to the assassin explain. However, this information was not much more than she already knew.

"And that's all you'll get for now." Talon concluded.

Sipping on her coffee, Lux's thoughts began to drift towards the coming days. Just as she was about to ask Talon what the plan was, he started the conversation.

"We'll need to get on the road within the hour." He stated.

"Where are we headed?" Lux asked, hoping it was somewhere out of town.

"Bilgewater." The assassin said simply. That was, perhaps, a little farther out of town than Lux would have liked.

The worry showed on her face. "Calm down, it will only be for a couple of days. I've got the travel plans covered."

"I've never been outside of Noxus!" Lux exclaimed, and though the words were false, the panic was very real.

"Then you can consider this a new adventure." He said with a laugh.

Nothing Lux said could persuade the rogue from deviating from his plans to sail to Bilgewater. She even offered heading off in a different direction herself, but all that earned her was a suspicious look from Talon and a prolonged conversation about why she was so against travelling to the island.

* * *

There were few people in the world, let alone in Noxus, whom Lux could recognize at a considerable distance. Jarvan IV was the most common one she saw, but he was only recognizable from his royal attire and posse of guards. Draven was another, but that man made special efforts to be noticed. The individual whom she saw standing at the docks was neither as friendly as Jarvan nor as dimwitted as Draven, but instead, she was a cunning, clever, and downright vicious redhead whom Lux tried to avoid at all costs.

"Kat." Talon offered a wave to the other Du Couteau. "Everything set?"

She responded with a smile that Lux could not describe as anything other than sinister. "As a matter of fact, everything is, little brother."

Talon frowned. "I'm older than you."

"Yes but that hardly matters. I wear the pants in this siblinghood."

"You like to think you do."

Lux stood there awkwardly, between the familial debate on which sibling had the teasing rights. Whatever the reason, Lux could not get it out of her head that she was standing in between a ladykiller and a lady killer. It seemed awfully dangerous, still, the less time they focused on her, the better.

But Lux had remained invisible for too long. A piercing green set of eyes settled on the mage. "And this must be little Lucy. She's a cute one."

Talon glared at the smirking Katarina. "Tickets."

"Fine, fine." She handed over a pair of tickets and what looked like Lux to be a voucher. "You'll be needing this as well."

"What's this?" Talon frowned.

"It's a voucher." Katarina said, confirming Lux's suspicion. "For a romantic week's getaway at the Vita Sub Rosa Casino for two adorable, passionately in love newlyweds."

All of the blood drained from the mage's face. Had she just said newlyweds?

Talon closed his eyes and massaged his forehead with his thumb and forefinger.

"Why do you do this to me?" He solemnly wondered.

"You're so cut off from the world, Talon." She laughed. "It's time you enjoyed the normal life. You have the perfect excuse, on the run for a couple of days to Bilgewater of all places with an adorable little blonde secretary. Honestly Talon, things could be a lot worse."

"Fine." The man grumbled. "Come on Lucy, we have a boat to catch."

The assassin left without a second word, leaving Lux to give Katarina an awkwardly shy wave goodbye before running after the man.

Talon gruffly handed over the stubs to the ticket master as he entered the ship, while Lux was still struggling to keep up. Feeling the need to make up for the assassin's coarseness, Lux offered, yet again, an awkward wave to a person she hardly knew as she tried to keep up with the grumbling killer.

"Miss!" The ticket master called out to the blonde before she could get too far away.

Lux hurried over to see what the matter was.

"You'll be needing these." He handed her the stubs back, along with a set of keys.

"Thanks!" Was all Lux managed to get out before she rushed off to find Talon.

Much to her dismay, the ship was packed. Finding Talon would be a near impossible task.

So, Lux resigned to make her way over to the railing and look off into the sea.

She watched the water ebb and flow, splashing against the hull with quiet lapping sounds. It looked so serene, but at the same time, quite challenging. She had never been on a boat, save for one time her family took a vacation to a nearby lake, but even then she did not venture out on the rented rowboat for long. Despite her ignorance of seafare, she did have a sinking suspicion the unbalanced water would not sit well with her stomach.

A horn sounded from the stern, marking the departure for Bilgewater. Bodies flooded the railing, bidding farewell to their counterparts left on land. Still, Talon was nowhere to be found.

Lux spent the better part of an hour staring off into the sea, mesmerized by the

movements of the ship and workings of the sea. Her thoughts went largely uninterrupted until a friendly hand came to rest on the small of her back and a comfortable voice rang out.

"Luxanna?" A pair of electric blue eyes shone down on the mage. "What are you doing here?"

"Ezreal!" Lux exclaimed, and unable to control herself, threw her arms around the explorer in an excited hug.

He returned it along with a small laugh.

"Seriously, Lux." He threw her a concerned look. "This isn't exactly a safe place for you."

"I know," She whispered, suddenly realizing just the utterance of her name could risk her safety. With a quick scout of her surroundings, Lux determined Talon was still missing. "Call me Lucy, if you will."

"Are you on a mission?" The explorer queried.

"Of sorts." The mage replied cryptically. "I've been working as Swain's secretary for the past two months. Recently I was sent on a mission with Talon, a simple retrieval-"

"I'm sorry, did you say Talon?" Ezreal's eyes were wide. "As in Talon Du Couteau?"

"Yes. Anyways, we-"

"Lu-Lucy this is some serious business!" He looked as concerned as he sounded. "He's not on this boat is he?"

"He is, but we're-"

"You need to disappear! That man is dangerous, Lucy. Come with me, I'll take you back home right and well."

"Calm down, Ezreal!" Lux demanded. "I cannot just leave. If you would let me explain, I'd tell you why."

"I don't see how anything you could say would convince me otherwise. You can't be hanging around the likes of Talon Du Couteau, he'll kill you!"

Ezreal's frown started small as he finished his statement, but only grew in size as he saw Lux's eyes go wide in recognition. He turned his head slightly to look at whatever the girl had been so concerned with.

The explorer was met with a cold stare that coupled with the sole man who Ezreal feared seeing most at that particular moment.

"Unfortunately, Ezreal," The assassin's deep rumble vibrated through Lux as he walked around and placed a hand around her waist. "She has to hang around the likes of me."

"And why's that?" Ezreal queried, voicing Lux's wonders aloud.

"We're newlyweds."

Lux's head whipped around to face Talon. He bore a chilling smirk, directed at the explorer, and instantly she knew what was going on. Why the assassin had felt the need to rile up Ezreal, she didn't know. Still, the fact remained that he had, and she had to fix it. She sighed heavily, and turned to Ezreal to diffuse the situation.

"Look, Ezreal," She started. "It's not what you think."

"Indeed," Talon cut in. "He seems to think I'm forcing you into this relationship."

The mage frowned up at the assassin for complicating things further. He returned her look with his signature chuckle.

"Fine, fine. I understand." Ezreal look slightly disturbed. "I just had always thought…" He paused a moment, carefully choosing his words. "He just doesn't seem like your type."

Lux knew what he had always thought. To be fair, she had thought it for a long time too, that they would one day be married. A part of her still considered this a possibility, but perhaps not with the same enthusiasm as Ezreal.

In a split second, Lux debated continuing on her previous path of trying to tell Ezreal the truth or accepting the situation for what it was and rectifying it later. Remembering the man next to her and the care she needed to take around him gave her a quick decision.

"I know," She admitted. "But love moves in mysterious ways. Still, it has been forever since we caught up. Perhaps I could trouble you for dinner once we're in Bilgewater?"

Ezreal paused for a moment. "I'm afraid my business takes me quickly away from the main cities in Bilgewater. I do have time tonight though, if you don't have anything planned."

"I don't." Lux smiled. "Six, then?"

"Of course." He returned the smile with a charming one of his own. Lux swore she heard Talon snort. "I'll meet you at the mess hall."

With that, the explorer left to go below deck, leaving Lux to deal with the hooded assassin beside her.

"What is wrong with you?" She turned on Talon immediately.

Though the blonde had hoped to draw some shame out of the assassin, all she got was a stoic face.

"Just keeping cover." He replied nonchalantly. "Why? Hoping the fruit cake would save you?"

Lux's eyes narrowed, realizing her previous assumption about Talon's motives had been correct. He had been trying to get a rise out of Ezreal.

Still, something about his question forced Lux to wonder if the assassin was still suspicious that she was trying to escape him so ardently. So Lux decided to approach this issue from a different route, hoping to draw the true nature of the assassin's skepticism from his lips.

"He's not a fruit cake." She paused a moment, for a dramatic effect. "And in fact I was hoping to escape you."

Talon's eyes narrowed on her. "Why?"

"You're a dangerous assassin!" She exclaimed, gesturing at his figure. "What kind of woman wants to travel around with a man she knows could kill her at any second?"

This brought Talon great pause, as if he was trying to discern her true motive. Lux had purposefully sent him on this thought exercise, and it was proving to be effective. If there was one thing she had learned about assassins it was that they were just that. Killers. They could be plenty suspicious, even fairly clever, but they were nowhere near as talented at the mind games as spies were.

"I'm not going to kill you, Lucy." Was all that Talon managed to conjure after moments of contemplation.

For a good few seconds Lux stood there, dumbfounded, wondering what had prompted the assassin to come up with that answer. A part of her, a silly part, was deeply flattered by the notion. She knew this man did not discriminate when it came to whose throat he would cut, but still he had declared her to be safe from the blade.

Just as she was about to reply with the only response she could think of, a simple thanks, Talon spoke. "Hand me the ticket and keys and let's go check out the room. Kat told me she packed away some supplies and I want to ensure they've been delivered."

"That's all fine and well," Lux said as she handed him the tickets and keys. "But if you'll just answer me one question. Where were you for the past hour?"

"Trying to get some information from our good for nothing Captain." The assassin grumbled. "He sent me on an hour long goose chase just to find out you had the items I was looking for."

"Well if you had just waited for me then you wouldn't have been in that mess from the start." The blonde scolded as she followed Talon below deck.

"It's not my fault you're slow." He shrugged.

"No, but it is your problem." Lux said with a laugh.  
Talon turned to glare at her. "Do you think it's wise to be taunting a killer?"

"You just admitted you won't kill me." The blonde said with a triumphant look.

"I can change my mind about that, if you like."

"Hmm," Lux paused a moment, putting a finger to her chin in contemplation. "But then that would give Swain a very good reason to put you in jail, don't you think?"

Talon squinted at her.

"You're very sharp considering the line of work you're involved in." He observed.

"And how would you know exactly how sharp or not sharp secretaries are?"

"To quote you," He threw her a quick smirk. "I've dated a few."

Lux snorted. "What, in the 'if I kiss you, I'm going to have to kill you" sort of way?"

"I don't kiss and tell." Talon winked as he opened the door to their room.

Lux stood at the entrance for a second, wondering if perhaps she had imagined that wink. It just seemed so out of character.

But then Talon interrupted her thoughts. "Are you coming in or not?"

"Yeah I am." Lux said as she closed the door behind her. Then she turned to more pressing matters. "Did you just wink?"

He chuckled at her. "What does it matter?"

"You're so odd!" She exclaimed. "One minute you're all broody-moody and the next you're winking! You're like Draven and Shauna rolled into one person."

He gave her a curious look. "Who's Shauna?"

Shauna Vayne was who Lux had been referring to, an individual fairly well known even outside Demacia. Still, few Noxians knew of her temperament, least of all secretaries. Lux needed to dial back the friendliness a touch, it was making her drop her guard.

"Just a friend. She's very… Intense. Sort of like Swain, but bull-headed instead of crafty."

"Hmm…" Was all Talon replied with as he rummaged through the trunks placed in their room.

He pulled out a handful of clothing and threw it at the blonde. "Go get changed. There's a bathroom down the hall."

Lux looked curiously down at the clothing. Who did it belong to?

Talon looked back at her. "I don't think I need to explain to you why a change of apparel is necessary. I'll leave the door unlocked. Go get changed!"

He didn't. On the off chance someone from Noxus found them in Bilgewater, it would be best to be seen in civilian attire.

As she changed, Lux wondered briefly who the garments she donned belonged to. Then, as she pulled the tight t-shirt over her head and noticed the fabric stopped an inch above her belly button, Lux had little doubt that this was part of Katarina's wardrobe. A fitted pair of black pants and a sleek leather jacket completed the ensemble, making Lux look like an assassin wannabe.

With a sigh, the blonde trekked back to the room, accepting her fate as Katarina's play doll. She returned to the room to see Talon pulling a grey t-shirt over his head, and again she watched the toned muscles in action. A blush began to crawl up her neck.

Talon turned around and gave Lux a once over. "I see Kat's clothes fit you."

"Fit is perhaps not the best word." Lux said as she started to button up her jacket.

"I'm pretty sure Kat's bigger than you are." The assassin commented.

"That probably explains why this shirt doesn't reveal my _entire_ stomach." Lux snarked, finishing with the buttons, but leaving the top three undone. She looked up at the assassin to find him hoodless. His shaggy brown hair nearly reached his shoulders, bringing a rugged look about him, instead of the bad-boy appearance he had previously sported.

"Well you won't have to worry about that for much longer." He said, taking Lux's old clothes from her and throwing them into a chest.

"Kat packed you cocktail dresses for the rest of the trip." Talon's humorous smirk did little to make Lux laugh.

She frowned. "I'm sure they're much more appropriate."

"Appropriate?" He laughed. "We're going from the slums of Noxus to the casinos of Bilgewater! Only the Demacians care about 'appropriate'."

Lux inhaled. It was a quiet breath, barely noticeable, and when she saw Talon's eyes squint just the slightest amount, the blonde thought for sure she was done for. But she spoke before the assassin had time to act.

"I'll have you know that every respectable woman cares about appropriate."

He chuckled, relieving some fear from Lux. "And that's why you're interested in the fruit cake." Talon leaned in and looked down on her. "Because he's 'appropriate'."

It was her turn to smirk. "And cute."

Talon snorted and went back to taking inventory of the chests.

Lux hopped on the bed, a soft, comfortable bed, and immediately felt the tension in her back start to release.

"So how long is this boat trip anyways?" She queried.

"Just a night." Talon answered. "After that we'll be in Bilgewater for three days, I suspect. Could be longer but I doubt it will take that long for our situation to be remedied."

"How exactly does our situation become remedied?" Lux wondered.

"Eventually," Talon started, "Swain will have to forfeit this attempt to seal us away in jail."

"What do you mean he will have to?"

"While it is known that I do the occasional mission for Swain, it is blatantly clear that you work for him, and accusing you of a crime would put focus on him, too. Once the Jenkinses start asking questions, Swain will have to cover up the fact that he ordered the hit, in order to save himself. That means he will pin the crime on some other duo, likely another set of people he's trying to get his hands on for one reason or another.

"Once that is done, Kat will send me a message and we can return to Noxus and go about our lives." He explained.

"I don't know if I will want to go back to Noxus after this." Lux admitted as she stared at the ceiling.

"And what, you'll just stay in Bilgewater?" Talon questioned.

"No, I think I'd like to travel." Lux mused. "I've heard a lot of stories about Shurima. I think I should like to go there."

"Quite the dreamer, aren't you?" He noted.

Lux looked at the assassin. He regarded her curiously with his arms folded at his chest, back leaned against the wall.

"I guess." She let the words hang for a couple of seconds. The assassin said nothing.

"I think I'm going to take a nap."

Talon grunted, letting the conversation fall.

It didn't take long for the cooing fabrics and feathered pillows to coax Lux into a deep, well-deserved slumber.


	3. Fall of the Lich

Lux woke to the light of another romantic setting sun, amber hues leaking into the room. She rolled on her side, tempted to return to her sleep, before remembering her dinner date with a certain explorer. With a start, the blonde sat up and immediately searched for a clock in the room.

"It's five fifty-six." A deep voice rumbled.

The blonde immediately turned to the assassin in the room, his nose stuck in a dusty old tome.  
"I've got to go!" She exclaimed, jumping out of bed. "Is there a brush in here?"

The mage scrambled through the trunks, eventually finding the item which she seeked. With a few strokes through her golden hair, Lux deemed herself "good enough" and headed for the door.

"I'll be back in a bit." She said to the assassin before shutting the door and making her way to the cafeteria.

* * *

It did not take long to find the mess hall, considering the ship had appropriate signage. Lux walked into the cafeteria and searched the enclosure for another blonde, whom she found sitting at a table munching on a slice of cheese pizza.

Ezreal waved her over as she approached.

"Let me just get some food, I'll be back in a second." She said to the explorer as she made her way to the kitchen.

Lux returned to the explorer with her own plate of spaghetti, a Crownguard favorite, and sat herself down.

She let out a sigh before addressing the issues at hand. "Goodness, Ezreal, there's so much I have to tell you."

"I should say so." The explorer replied in a tone that Lux would describe as snarky.

"Cool it, Ez." She chided. "I'm not actually married to Talon."

He shot her a curious look.

"Look," She started in a hushed tone. "I was on this assignment with him, but we were set up. Swain is trying to throw us in jail for stealing from the Jenkinses. So, we're on the run. Talon, apparently, went to Katarina to get some help in this situation, and she got us tickets and a honeymooner's reservation at the Vita Sub Rosa Casino in Bligewater. We're going to stay there for a bit while the situation gets 'worked out'. Once that's done, we'll return to Noxus and go about our own lives, which, for me, means running back to Demacia as soon as possible."

"You should have tried to ditch him earlier." He commented.

"You don't think I did?" She shot back. "That man is the shiftiest assassin the world has ever seen. He knows Swain wants me in jail for interrogation, and he doesn't know why. I try to shake him, but it only gets me more scrutiny. Besides, it's not like I have the best contacts out here, nor the means to escape on my own."

"I can help you with that." The explorer offered her a charming smile.

Lux knew that, for Ezreal, this situation had changed from worst nightmare to real-life day dream. She wasn't sure if the guy had a hero complex or if he was just a romantic at heart, but Lux knew he had always longed to be her knight in shining armor.

"I was hoping you would say that." She returned the smile.

"As it turns out, I am actually staying in Bilgewater for about five days. I'll be taking up residence in West Harbor, in an hotel fairly close to Vita Sub Rosa. If you can find a time to ditch your assassin, just come to my place and you can tag along. I'll be headed back to Piltover after my five days here, and I'm sure we can find you safe passage to Demacia from there."

"Sounds perfect, you're a lifesaver. Quite literally." She paused a second. "I thought you said you weren't going to be in the main cities?"

"I lied." He shrugged. "You think I want Talon knowing my business?"

Lux laughed brightly, watching a smile grow on the explorer's face.

"Here." He said, offering her a slip of paper. "This is the address. I trust you remember how to pick a lock?"  
"Of course." She shot him a devious look.

A blush formed on Ezreal's face as he chuckled at her. "Definitely not the goody-two-shoes everyone thinks you are."

"Shh," She smiled at him. "Don't tell anyone."

The two continued the rest of the evening with playful banter, a pastime Lux always found pleasure in. Lux had always felt that Ezreal was the man she was meant to marry because of the way they talked and interacted; he was the only one she enjoyed flirting with. Watching the explorer blush and tease sent small flutters through her stomach, but still the mage could not help but think about the assassin she was left to return to, and how just the deep rumble of his voice was enough to evoke the same feeling within her, if not more.

* * *

The mage return to the assassin sometime around eight at night to find him still nose deep in the book. Lux shut the door behind her and flopped herself down on the bed, somehow tired, yet again. She looked back at the rogue, quietly reading the tome at the little study desk in the room, wondering what could be so intriguing about the text.

"Is that the book you stole from the Jenkinses?" Lux asked.

Talon raised his head and regarded her coolly. "So what did you and the pretty-boy talk about?"

The mage sighed. "Don't ignore my question, Talon."

He chuckled, affirming Lux's theory that his deep voice was so much more compelling than anything Ezreal could conjure. "Yes, it is."

"What's it about?" She asked, hoping, but not expecting, to get a useful answer.

"Answer my question first, then I will indulge you." He eyed her curiously.

"We just caught up. I haven't seen him in some time, we had a lot to talk about."

He paused for a second, as if debating whether or not to accept her answer. "It's a book about the military."

Lux sighed. "That's so vague. What about the military? Which military? Past or present military? So many questions and yet none of them answered."

"I'll give you exactly as much information as you give me." The assassin smirked.

"So this is a game, is it?" A devious smile played on the mage's lips.

Talon set the book aside as his smirk grew in size. He said nothing.

"You first, then. Ask away." Lux prompted.

"How do you know the Prodigal Explorer?"

His question gave Lux pause. How did he know who the Prodigal Explorer even was? Sure, Ezreal was somewhat famous outside of Piltover and Demacia, but she thought most Noxians didn't know of him. Then again, Talon wasn't most Noxians.

"Familial connections." That statement was in fact true. The rest, not so much. "He stays with my family when he passes through Noxus."

Lux hoped the assassin would buy her lie, but she knew that her connection with the explorer only made him more skeptical of her innocence.

Talon opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the blonde.

"No sir, it's my turn! Why does Swain want you in jail?" Lux prodded.

The assassin squinted. "You're so curious."

"That's not an answer." She reminded him.

"He wants to know where my father is." Talon replied honestly.

"Power-hungry." Lux commented as she motioned for Talon to ask his question.

"Why are you so interested in this book?" The assassin returned fire.

The blonde thought carefully about her response. "It's like you said, I'm so curious."

Talon did not seem satisfied with her answer. "Indeed."

"Now I don't need to ask you the question to know that you're suspicious of me," Lux said, "But I do wonder who you think I really am."

"I think you're really a secretary." He replied easily.

"Bull shit."

The assassin laughed. "It's like I said, I'll give you exactly as much information as you give me. I'm not going to take 'I'm so curious' for an answer."

"Well I guess we're at an impasse then." Lux let her head fall back against the pillow.

For a good few moments, Lux stared at the ceiling, thinking of the coming days and ways to escape the assassin and run back home with Ezreal. The best option seemed to be sneaking off when he was sleeping, that way he couldn't tail her, but Lux resigned to play it by ear. It was then that Lux took the time to read the address Ezreal had given her, making an effort to memorize the location, should the need arise.

Fortunately, the explorer had been wise enough to give her general directions and landmark locations, because, gods know Lux wouldn't be able to find the place on a street name alone. She then tucked the card into her bra, for safekeeping, and continued her plotting. After fifteen minutes, however, the blonde had just about exhausted everything she felt she needed to, and realized she was without anything else to do.

"I'm bored." Lux whined, looking at Talon, still nose deep in the tome.  
"Tough shit." He replied without lifting his eyes from the page.

"Don't you have something for me to read?" She questioned.

Talon looked up from his book and shot Lux a look she couldn't quite decipher. "I think Katarina packed a book for you."

With no small amount of effort, Lux hoisted herself off of the bed and rummaged in the trunk for a book. In it, she found a little paperback titled _When Life Gives You Lemons_ which, upon further inspection, appeared to be an anthology of short stories.

Lying back down on the bed, Lux opened to a story she thought sounded particularly interesting, one called "Fall of the Lich". She dipped her lower body under the cozy covers, tucking herself away in the bed, prepared to drift off into a fantasy world.

* * *

 _Cool breath tickled the back of her neck, accompanied with a deep voice._

" _Jaina," Arthas let her name play on his cold lips. A deft finger traced up her spine, sending shivers coursing through the conjurer._

" _Why are you here, Jaina?" She could almost hear the laughter in his voice, his mocking persona once again riling her._

 _Jaina turned to face the stone-cold man. Her fierce expression did nothing to phase him, but rather his devious smirk twitched upwards in an effort to hide his laughter._

" _Someone has to stop you, Arthas." She spoke with conviction._

" _Oh? And you think that someone will be you?" He taunted, bringing his hand to her face and allowing his fore finger to settle under her chin, forcing her to stare into his icy eyes._

 _The conjurer stared up at the man for what felt like eternity, willing herself to break the silence, but unable to force words from her throat._

" _You have always had such pretty lips, Jaina. So delicate, and so red." He paused, slowly allowing his hungry gaze to settle on her mouth._

" _You are dead, Arthas. No one could ever want you." Jaina bit out as she swatted his hand away from her chin._

" _Believe that yourself before you try to persuade me." The fallen paladin laughed at her._

 _Angered, Jaina turned to exit the room, hoping, on some small sliver of chance, that he would just let her leave. Clearly coming here was a bad idea, and now she would likely pay the price._

" _Not so fast." Arthas chided as he grabbed hold of her upper arm, turning her to face him. "I am not done with you."_

 _Enraged, Jaina opened her mouth to yell retorts back at the lich, but was instead silenced by a pair of icy lips pressing hard onto hers._

 _A firm hand pulled her flush against Arthas' body, and Jaina's bracing hands came to rest on the fallen paladin's breastplate. His lips moved coolly against hers, plying her mouth open and allowing his tongue access to her cavern. He played and toyed with her mouth in every way she liked. Jaina could hardly dampen her moan as his thumb brushed against the outside curve of her breast, teasing more pleasure._

 _He released his hold on her lips and redirected his own towards her neck. A commanding kiss was placed on her pulse, soon followed by sucking and nipping that finally forced Jaina's vocal chords into motion. The conjurer felt her eyebrows pull together as a quiet sigh escaped her lips. Her hands slowly curled around Arthas' neck, moving of their own accord._

 _As the lich withdrew, Jaina began to remember who the man was that she was moaning for, and immediately began to pull back herself. However, his steel grip kept her in place as he regarded her with a confident, and, dare she say, triumphant look._

" _You want me." He stated simply, allowing his free hand to play around her collar bone and begin to trail south._

" _Do not be silly." She chided, trying to regain some dignity. "I want the man you used to be."_

 _His cold hand brushed past her sternum and towards her belly button as his laughing eyes flickered to her lips._

 _Realization dawned on the conjurer as the fallen paladin's hand came dangerously close to her core. Just as Jaina opened her mouth to command Arthas to stop, his forefinger pressed into her center._

 _Pleasure shocked through the conjurer, causing her to cry out, "Arthas!"_

"Lucy?" A curious voice forced the mage's attention away from her reading.

With a blushing face, Lux turned to face the assassin while offering a soft "Hmm?"

"I asked if you are going to sleep in the bed tonight." Talon stated simply.

It was then that Lux realized he had done away with his shirt, and was beginning to deal with his pants.

Her blush intensified as she stammered, "Y-yes, of course. Why don't you change somewhere else?"

"I've already started in here." He shrugged as he stood before her, only in boxers.

Lux coughed in an effort to hide her raspy voice. "At least put on a shirt, why don't you?"

Talon obliged, pulling a while tee over his head. He then turned off the light, forcing Lux to set her tantalizing book aside. She snuggled under the covers, looking forward to getting a decent night's sleep in a comfortable bed. A content sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes and began to dream of the better things in life, but then she felt a rustling of the covers.

Swiftly turning on her other side, Lux could barely make out the movements of a man getting into the bed.

"Talon!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"What?" He chuckled. "You thought I was going to sleep on the floor?"

The assassin settled in the covers beside her, causing Lux an undue amount of stress. She could feel the heat building within her, and though she thought it was due to the fact she had never slept in the same bed with a man before, a part of her knew it was because she was thinking of the scene she had just read about, except for with different characters.

Still, the bed was too tempting to force Lux away, and so she turned her back to the content assassin and tried to drift off into slumber herself.


	4. Vita Sub Rosa

Lux awoke the next morning in what she would call a precarious situation. She lay on her side, with her nose and lips pressed against what she soon recognized to be the firm flesh of a muscled bicep. Her eyes fluttered open, offering her a view of a certain assassin holding the dusty tome, eyes fixed on the page. It was then that Lux realized the location of her own hand, which was resting beneath a white cotton shirt on the man's rock hard abs, dangerously close to the elastic band of his boxers.

With a start, she jerked her hand away from his flesh and sat up instantly. Her face was so incredibly red Lux thought it must have been radiating heat. She looked down at the assassin with an open mouth, hoping to offer some words of explanation, but she could only conjure undecipherable sounds.

Talon turned away from his book and Lux could immediately tell he was failing in his attempt to hide his smile.

"Quite the vixen, aren't you?" His teasing voice did little to calm the blonde.

In a fit of rage and extreme embarrassment, Lux chucked her pillow at the assassins face. It connected with his skin with a satisfying whooshing sound. Talon peeled the pillow away, revealing a look sinister enough to rival his sister's.

"So you want to fight?" He taunted, setting his book down on the nightstand.

Lux's eyes went wide as she had barely enough time to dodge the pillow flying towards her head. She tumbled off the bed and hit the floor with a loud thud. Without a second thought, she grabbed the pillow Talon had just chucked at her and threw it right back at him.

Standing, she braced herself for another oncoming pillow. Once at full height she saw a tall assassin standing across from her, pillow in hand, ready to return fire.

"This is so juvenile!" Lux whined as she examined Talon's every move.

He remained still, but continued to provoke her. "What, afraid you will lose?"

"Please." She waved his comment away with her hand. "I've been to far more sleepovers than you have."

"I wouldn't assume that." The assassin said as he readied the bundle of feathers. "I have two younger sisters."

Lux barely had enough time to squeak out the word "pervert" before a pillow came hurling towards. Deftly, she dodged the object, then ducked to pick it back up.

"You missed." The blonde stated, just before throwing the pillow back at the assassin.

He caught it easily in his palm.

"Calm down, Lucy." He said with a satisfied smirk. "We don't have time for these silly games."

Talon laid the pillow back down on the bed and stalked over to the trunk of clothes.

"What?" Lux said with an exasperated voice. "You were the one goading me into playing!"

"You've told plenty more convincing lies than that one." He said with laughing eyes. "Get your stuff packed, the boat is about to dock."

"Ugh!" The blonde cried out as she began to collect her things. "You'd make a great lawyer."

"Somehow, that didn't seem like a compliment." The assassin noted.

"It wasn't." The mage grumbled as she tucked Kat's clothes and _When Life Gives You Lemons_ into her suitcase, readying for the trip ashore to Bilgewater.

* * *

Lux was pleasantly surprised to find that West Harbor was actually far more attractive a city than she had originally pictured. It reminded her starkly of the red light district in Demacia, which, by the way, was in no way similar to the red light district in Noxus. West Harbor, much like the red light district in Demacia, was full of neon lights and fast food joints. Casinos were scattered all around the area, and with them, card sharks, gamblers, ladies of the night, and anyone else just looking for a good time.

The streets were quite crowded, making it somewhat difficult for Lux to follow behind Talon. Eventually, the mage and the assassin approached one of the more lavish looking casinos in the area, Vita Sub Rosa. A bellhop graciously held the door open for the duo, and offered to take care of Lux's suitcase.

"If I may, miss?" The young man smiled. Lux thought he couldn't have been older than eighteen.

"Oh, I'm alright," She smiled gratefully at the boy. "Thank you, though."

Lux noticed a small blush crest the bellhop's face and immediately felt more than a little embarrassed.

"Now you've done it." She heard the assassin say as soon as they were out of the boy's earshot.

"What have I done?" Lux looked curiously up at Talon. Her eyes drifted towards his jaw, where the startings of a beard prickled his skin. She couldn't help but notice that the stubble was awfully attractive on the man.

"You've given him hope." Talon practically snorted a laugh. "A smile like that? He'll never get over you now."

"I think you're over-exaggerating." The mage dismissed his comment.

"We'll see who's right when he presents you with a rose and begs you to take his virginity."

"Ugh." Lux looked back at the kid, who was helping a family of five with their belongings. "You're so crude."

The mage couldn't help but think that if the boy was just a few years older, around twenty-one, he would be just her type. Tall, lean, dazzling eyes…

"Don't tell me you're considering it?" Talon asked with a slightly disgusted expression.

"Of course not!" The mage responded quickly. "I'm no cougar. Were he a few years older..."

"He's probably not that many years your younger than I am your senior."

Whipping her head back at the assassin, Lux gave him a scrutinizing look.

"How old are you?" She wondered aloud.

"How old do you think?" He asked curiously.

To be perfectly honest, Lux hadn't thought about it. She had just took it for granted that the man was somewhere around her own age.

"Twenty-five?" She ventured a guess.

"Twenty-six." He corrected. "And you're what, nineteen?"

"Nineteen?" Lux was shocked. "I don't seriously look nineteen, do I?"

Talon shrugged. "I'm not the one attracting fifteen year olds."

Huffing, Lux corrected the assassin. "I'm twenty-two, thank you very much."

The assassin waved off her comment before leaving her with one final request while he turned to the check-in table. "Watch the bags, will you?"

Lux sat down on a couch in the lobby, with the suitcases, taking a moment to consider how young she actually looked. It was true, she did have a cute heart-shaped face and those wide blue eyes that made most men think of innocence, but generally the blonde felt that her demeanor was too, well, old to belong to a nineteen year old. Then again, she had been in a pillow fight earlier that morning.

She watched the assassin negotiate with the front desk and began to wonder what other assumptions he had made about her. Part of the reason she had been so successful the past three months is because she truly did look the part of a secretary. Talon likely thought she was the cookie-cutter, husband-seeking young lady she appeared to be. There was also no doubt in her mind that he thought she was a virgin. Most people thought she was, and if he thought she was nineteen, there was no way he'd be one of the few to assume otherwise.

A little known fact about the youngest Crownguard was that she had, in fact, lost her maidenhood at, wouldn't you know it, the ripe age of nineteen. She had been in a long term relationship with Ezreal in college, and the two had intended to wait until marriage for sex, but then Ezreal was called off to Shurima and their desires could wait no more. The night before he left, the explorer offered Lux the most romantic night she had ever experienced. She really did treasure that memory, but their relationship had soon after ended as Ezreal continued to explore the world and Lux was sent into Noxus for espionage.

A rough voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Let's go." The assassin said as he picked up a suitcase and headed for the elevators.

Lux followed behind, rushing to catch up with the man who took such long strides.

As the duo entered the elevator, Lux noticed Talon was carrying a case of poker chips.

"Figures you would be a gambler." She muttered.

"Kat bought these for us." He added with a smirk, "It would be rude not to use them."

"You could just cash them in." She offered.

The assassin laughed. "And where's the fun in that?"

"It's better than losing all of it." She frowned disapprovingly.

"Please." Talon pretended to look offended. "I am actually a respectably good gambler."

"There's nothing respectable about it." Lux retorted. "I bet, sooner or later, some asshole you owe money to, because you aren't a good gambler, will come around and steal the little you do earn."

"Just because I wasn't a good gambler long ago doesn't mean I'm not good anymore." He argued. "Besides, the fellas I owe money to are long gone."

"You killed them?" She asked, shocked. But, considering his profession, it was not all that surprising.

"Most of them." he answered casually.

"What do you mean most of them?"

"There's one or two I haven't seen in awhile, haven't had the chance to kill them."

"Oh so you'd rather kill them than pay them what you owe?" She raised an eyebrow.

The assassin just smirked. "Of course."

"See, this is why I don't gamble. I'll probably shop or something."

"With what money?"

Talon had a really good point. Lux was pretty broke. Sure she had brought a pouch of fifteen silver along with her like she always did, for emergencies, but it was not nearly enough to go shopping.

"I guess you'll have to gamble too." The assassin added with a laugh.

Lux frowned, not much soothed by his comment as the elevator ground to a halt on the 10th floor. The duo stepped out and Talon led the way to their suite.

Upon entrance, Lux was duly impressed by the suite Katarina had booked for them. At the south end there was a little kitchenette and an island counter. Directly across from the door was a balcony, closed and shielded by gossamer curtains. A loveseat was placed against the north wall, and next to it, a sliding door marked the entrance to what Lux could only assume was the bedroom.

Lux walked over to the sliding door and pushed it open to reveal a plushly decorated bed. On the east side of the room she saw yet another room that let to a bathroom containing one item Lux was particularly delighted to see, a jacuzzi tub.

Sighing contently, Lux returned to the main room to announce her plans for the day to the assassin.

"I'm going to take a bath." She said decidedly.

The assassin grunted in acknowledgement as he continued unpacking their luggage.

"Then I think I'll read for the rest of the day. Do you have a room key for me in case I should like to leave?"

Talon handed her a silver key before stating his own plans. "I'll be going down to the poker hall shortly. If you need anything, you can find me there."

Although the assassin casually left the room, leaving Lux to her own thoughts and privacy, it failed to cross the mage's mind to seize this golden moment of opportunity and flee for safety. Instead, she headed back to the bathroom, barely able to contain her excitement for the bath. So Lux turned on the hot water and stripped, prepared to dip into the serene warmth and escape her thoughts.

* * *

Sometime around six in the evening Lux found herself growing rather bored. Talon still hadn't returned, and she could only assume he was doing pretty well down at the dealer's den. Flopping on her stomach, Lux shoved _When Life Gives You Lemons_ aside, both delighted in its stories and frustrated that she had finished the masterpiece. It did not take the mage very long to decide her next course of action.

What she really wanted was another book. Considering the neighborhood she was currently hold up in, it would be difficult to find such an item, but if she could somehow find one, it would likely be the smutty literature she was looking for. Still, the fact that she had no money came back to haunt her.

Hauling herself out of bed, Lux walked over to her suitcase and rummaged through for an appropriate cocktail dress, if such a thing existed. She found a particularly cute one with a black heart-shaped bodice, a flared peach skirt, and a little silver bow placed above the left breast. She completed the ensemble with hose and Katarina's pair of silver pumps that, by chance, fit rather well.

After taking a moment to pin up her hair in a messy chic fashion, Lux examined her figure in the mirror, thoroughly satisfied. She then set off toward the poker hall in search of the one man who held the money she was looking for.

Surprisingly, it did not take Lux very long to find the assassin in the dealer's den. She found him sitting at a poker table, wearing black slacks, a black tie, a black vest, and a white button down. Despite herself, Lux could not help but think that he looked rather handsome in the ensemble.

Daintly the blonde approached the table and tapped the assassin lightly on the shoulder, commanding his attention. He looked curiously up at her, setting aside his cards. For a second Lux thought she saw the assassin blush.

"And who might this be?" A man at the table teasingly asked.

"Must be his sweetheart." Added another. "She's a cutie."

Ignoring the men, Lux leaned in towards Talon's ear, desiring to keep their conversation private. She felt a cool breeze brush over the tops of her exposed breasts, and she was fairly certain the assassin was having difficulty focusing on her face.

"I should like to ask a favor of you." Lux whispered in his ear.

"What's that?" Talon asked in a voice that Lux could only describe as husky.

"If I help you with your game, will you give me thirty silver to buy something with?"

The assassin paused. "You can be my luck if that is what you are asking."

The breath in her throat hitch as he said 'my luck'. A blush began to crawl up her neck.

"Sure." She agreed. "For thirty silver."

"Alright." Talon replied as he slid his chair out a touch, offering her his knee for seating.

Carefully, Lux sat herself down on the assassin's thigh, allowing her back to brush up against his chest. Talon's hand came to rest around her waist, while the other picked up the cards. She could feel his hot breath bouncing against off the back of her neck, and for a second the mage thought she had made a mistake.

But the card playing soon resumed and the embarrassment Lux had been feeling from sitting in such an intimate position soon disappeared. The men completed their round and, from the looks of it, Talon won.

"Do you know how to play this game?" The assassin breathed in her ear.

Lux shook her head "no", unable to conjure any words.

"So, at the start of the round, each person is dealt two cards." He gestured towards the two cards that were placed in front of him. "If you want to play a particular round, you must pay what is called an ante, usually something small like two copper, before you are dealt in.

"Once you ante up, you receive your cards and then the initial betting begins."

Peering curiously down at his cards, Lux saw that he had the queen hearts and the king of spades.

She watched as Talon put forth a blue chip.

"Right now I'm matching that fellow's bet." He nodded towards a man sitting across the table.

"See, he thinks he has a good hand, and by matching his bet, I am venturing that my hand is as good as his, if not better."

Then, the dealer flopped six cards down on the table, half right side up and the other upside down, alternating between orientation.

"That round's betting is done, and now the dealer has flipped the first three cards." Talon explained. "We'll bet again, with the added information. Ultimately, a hand is decided by your best set of five cards, from the two you are dealt and the five that will eventually be placed on the table."

Lux nodded as the men began to bet again. She noticed that Talon had bet a black piece, which seemed to draw some hesitation from the other men.

"Is that one particularly expensive?" She asked about the black chip, as she turned her face towards Talon's, leaning to his ear. Lux felt the hand on her waist stiffen some.

"It's worth one gold." He replied quietly.

"Goodness." Lux remarked, before turning back to the table.

The mage watched for some time as the men bet and traded, each trying to fool the other out of money. Lux began to become familiar with the idea of bluffing, which she saw Talon pull off from time to time. At some moments, she even saw the hesitation in other men.

One time she tapped on Talon's knee as she noticed another man bet rather high on something she thought he seemed unsure about.

The assassin leaned in, as if expecting her to say something. But if there was one thing Lux knew about casinos, it was that they were particularly unrelenting when it came to cheating. So, she let her next words to Talon remain cryptic in nature.

Turning her head once again towards the assassins ear, she whispered. "You smell nice."

Talon inaudibly cleared his throat, and then regarded her curiously.

"I wouldn't lie about that." She put a little emphasis on the word lie. Once again, she tapped his knee, in an effort to convey her secret message.

"Flirting with me, Lucy?" The assassin whispered back.

A blush crept up her neck and the mage began to worry that he had not received her message.

"You saw right through me." The mage replied, hoping to keep the theme of tricks in her wordplay. "It's like you read my mind."

As the words "read my mind" crossed her lips, she tapped again on the assassin's knee.

Talon seemed to catch her drift as he placed a hefty bet on the table, challenging the bluffer.

Lux watched as the men continued to bet, her forehead still pressed against Talon's neck, back angled slightly away from his chest. More rounds were played and eventually Lux got in the habit of tapping his knee every time she thought she saw a bluff. He did not always go along with her cues, but for the most part he seemed to understand what she was getting at.

The mage just about found herself falling into slumber until she felt a light finger trail along her spine. Talon's hand feathered over the bare skin of her back, almost mindlessly, drawing Lux into a greater sense of comfort. The drowsiness continued to sweep over the mage, until a firm thumb pressed lightly into the muscle underneath her scapula, rolling over a knot of stress lingering in her back. He repeated the motion again, earning the smallest of sighs from Lux, only audible to Talon's own ears. But the sandman had already sprinkled dust on her eyes, and she was too tired to bother him about the gesture.

* * *

Lux was abruptly woken by a firm pair of her hands lifting her up and setting her on her feet. With a startled cry, she looked back at the perpetrator, a surprisingly familiar Talon, who was gathering his chips and readying to leave the table. Reality began to return to the mage as she followed Talon over to the cashing counter. As she watched the assassin receive his coins, Lux remembered her true purpose in going to the gambling hall.

"I want my thirty silver." She stated, staring coolly at Talon.

He withdrew a gold piece and tossed it at her. Lux looked surprisingly down at the coin. That was far more generosity than she expected from the assassin.

"Don't get your hopes up." He replied in a hard voice. "You're paying for dinner."

"Dinner?" The mage asked curiously. "It's nine at night!"  
Talon shrugged. "I'm hungry."

Once she took a moment to think about, Lux realized that she, in fact, was starving. Looking back at the assassin, she gestured for him to lead the way.

The duo made their way to another end of a casino, where a tropical themed bar took up residence. Lux followed Talon to a circular, plush booth where the assassin sat in a sigh of relaxation. The blonde sat down not quite across from him, but not quite next to him either. Menus were already placed on the table, allowing Lux to peruse through the nutrition options, but the more she looked, the less she felt like eating anything healthy.

It was not long before the waitress came and took their order.

"So what'll it be for you, handsome?" She said with a flirtatious smile, looking deep into Talon's eyes.

"I'll just have the steak burger, and a beer." He replied nonchalantly, handing her a menu.

"And you?" She turned to Lux, offering her a less than pleasant expression.

Although the mage was pretty offended by the faults in the customer service, she replied with a sweet voice. "Strawberry cheesecake and a glass of milk, if you don't mind."

"Cheesecake, really?" Talon asked as the waitress sashayed away.

"It's past dinner time." The mage explained. "I want dessert."

Talon shrugged away her comment as he stared into the bar. Lux sat in contemplation for a few moments, watching people buzz around the bar. Though it was definitely past dinner time, the restaurant was full of life. Lux realized that it probably didn't quiet down until the middle of night, if it ever quieted.

Eventually the waitress returned with their drinks, handing Lux her milk with a look that could only be described as sour.

"She doesn't seem very nice." Lux commented as soon as the waitress was out of earshot.

"She was perfectly kind to me." Talon replied as he sipped on his beer.

"That's because you're attractive." The blonde said before she could catch herself. A pink blush bloomed in her cheeks as she realized her error.

Cautiously, she lifted her eyes to meet Talon's, but she was not met with the smug look she expected to see. Instead she was met with a pair of inexplicably dark eyes as the man sipped on is drink. As he set the bottle down, Lux thought for a moment she saw his eyes drift to her lips, but perhaps that was her own imagination.

Neither one said anything for some time, and Lux resigned to count the knots in the wood table. It wasn't until the assassin made a curious observation that Lux was drawn from her inner thoughts.

"Well," Talon half-laughed. "Figures I was bound to see him at one point or another."

Lux casually turned her head to look at the man who Talon had been referring to, expecting to see some nondescript drunk gambler ready to unwisely collect his debts. Instead, she was met with the sight of an unfortunately familiar bearded man, wearing his signature cowboy hat. One of the few saving graces, Lux thought, of going to Bilgewater was that there was practically nobody who knew her identity and would betray it. Turns out, she was wrong. Twisted Fate had spent just enough time in Demacia to know her name and her face.

"Shit." The blonde whispered as she watched the gambler gain.

Panic surged through the mage as she tried to think of a way out of this situation. Sure, she could leave just fine, but she could not be certain Twisted Fate wouldn't mention her name to the Demacian-hating assassin beside her. Ultimately, she needed to remove both her and Talon from the situation at hand. It was then that an incredibly absurd idea crossed the mage's mind.

Talon looked down at the mage, curious about her little panic spell. Lux, however, transformed her fearful face into the best representation of a seductress she could conjure. Inching over beside him, she started to trace her delicate finger along the assassin's vest.

"Play along, will you?" She asked, looking up at the man with sparkling eyes.

The mage moved closer still, and in a quiet voice said, "That's one man I don't want to see today."

Lux felt Talon's eyes scanning her face, hesitating on her lips, and soon the mage began to feel the world float away. Perhaps it was her own hidden desires for the assassin that made her do what she did next, or maybe it was the growing tension and flirtations that caused her to act on impulse. Regardless of the reason, the mage made her move, knowing it was her best, and only, chance to keep Twisted Fate at bay.

With two small hands, Lux grabbed hold of the rogue's collar and pulled his lips down to hers, hoping to everything good in the world that Talon would go along with her scheme.

For a very long second Lux thought she was a dead woman. The assassin sat still, rigid and unyielding, making no move to respond to her action. Lux just about withdrew from him until a muscular arm snaked around her waist and the assassin returned her desperate kiss. He moved against her pliant lips in a way Lux could only describe as hungry, and when he breathed hot air into her mouth just before slipping his tongue inside, the mage completely forgot about their surroundings and her mission to escape a Twisted Fate.

Talon's free hand came to rest at the nape of her neck, holding her head in position as he plundered her mouth. Lux unconsciously wound a hand in his hair, gripping his scalp almost painfully. As if the two inches between the couple was too far a distance, a firm hand moved up her back, pressing her even closer to the assassin she was ardently kissing.

Her lips moved against his, eyebrows pulled together as he kissed her in a way that left her dizzy and thoughtless. Then, the assassin moved his attentions to her bottom lip as his mouth encompassed the flesh, sucking gently. Lux let loose the smallest of sighs, a sweet appreciation of his treatment.

But the sound was enough to wake the mage from that dream of a kiss. She pulled away gently, unraveling herself from his hold, flushed, flustered, and at a loss of words.

The two sat there for what seemed like ages, Lux staring up at the assassin with a confused brow and slightly dropped jaw, and Talon regarding the mage with a very dark look.

"My, my." An accented man interrupted, barely able to contain his smirk. "That kiss was hotter than the afternoon sands of Shurima."

Lux looked up, shocked to see that her kissing scheme had not deterred Twisted Fate from paying them a visit.

"I have to wonder though," Twisted Fate said with a curious brow, staring down at Lux, "What you are doing kissing the likes of Talon Du Couteau."

"He's, um." Lux stammered, unsure of how to talk her way out of this situation. At this point, she would accept literally anything that came out of the gambler's mouth so long as he didn't mention her true name.

"We're…" She started again, trying to finish a thought that had no ending.

"Doesn't matter." The card shark said with a shrug. "My quarrel is not with you, Crownguard."

The second that fateful name crossed Twisted Fate's lips Lux could feel Talon's cold eyes burning into her. An intense feeling of fear settled within her, and she now realized she had to try her best to keep Twisted Fate around, lest she be left with a bloodthirsty assassin.

"Talon, on the other hand," Twisted Fate turned on the assassin. "You, sir, owe me three gold."

"Take it." Talon ground out, handing the man three gold coins all the while refusing to take his eyes off of Lux.

"Very well." The accented man accepted his payment. "I'll leave you two to it then. I'm sure you would like to be left in the comfort of each other's company."

"No," Lux squeaked, but it was too late. The card shark had already turned and left, leaving Lux to deal with the man beside her.

"Crownguard." Talon repeated in a dark tone that sent shivers down Lux's spine.

She sat there, feeling the heat of his stare, wondering how long it would take a trained killer to deal with her. Five seconds passed and the assassin still had not moved, but instead continued to glare, making Lux wonder what on earth she was supposed to do.

Daring to face the assassin, Lux turned her gaze toward Talon and stared defiantly in his eyes. Where she had been expecting to see rage and bloodthirst, she instead found an unreadable expression, dark and intense, as if the assassin himself did not know what to do.

In a strange moment of heroism, Lux took her life in her own hands. Without a second thought, she elbowed the assassin in the stomach, slipped under the table, and ran like nobody's business.

It did not take the blonde long to make it out of the casino. She tried to recall the directions to Ezreal's hotel, silently commending herself for having taken the time to memorize the location. She rounded the first corner after coming out of the casino, heading towards the wharf. A moment of panic shot through the mage as her high heel slipped against the slick pavement, slippery from the evening rain. She recovered gracefully, keeping her momentum, but wary of her unforgiving shoes.

Droplets pounded against her skin as she ran. The mage threw a glance over her shoulder to see if Talon was still following. A wave of relief swept over her for the slightest of moments when she did not initially see the assassin, but then her keen eyes spotted him amongst the crowd of people, still making an effort to catch her.

The mage continued, heading towards Butcher's Bridge, and eventually Lux found herself venturing close to Ezreal's hotel. She tried her best to duck, weave, and trick Talon as she moved through the crowds, but as she turned a corner down a dark alleyway that seemed to be the most direct route to Ezreal's place, could still feel the assassin's eyes on her.

With the last bit of stamina she had, Lux charged down the alleyway, hoping to make it to the other end before Talon could gain. She knew that just around the side would be the entrance and from there she would be relatively safe, with bellhops, concierges, and hopefully Ezreal himself to save her.

But, as fate would have it, Lux, in all her hurry in the rainy streets of Bilgewater, feet raw from running in pumps, tripped fatally in the dark alley way. She hit the concrete hard, barely having enough time to brace herself with her hands. Frantically, she tried to lift herself up, some overly optimistic part of her thinking she could still escape the assassin.

Lux didn't have time to even process the situation as Talon gripped her shoulders hard, roughly slamming her against the wall. A pocket knife shifted against her throat while a firm hand kept her shoulder pressed against the stone. She felt the assassin's cool breath bouncing off her skin, and in a final moment of peace, Lux said her goodbyes to the world.

But the death she had been expecting did not come. Instead, the assassin stared intensely down at her, still bearing the same dark look he bore in the bar. As she tried to regain her breath, Lux looked back at Talon, trying to understand this cryptic man. It was ridiculous, seeing him there, damp hair and rain droplets trickling down his skin, dressed in nearly formal attire, ready to kill her after the heated moment they had shared just minutes earlier.

Still, Talon remained unmoving. His dark eyes bore into hers, concentrating hard on her face, almost as if he was trying to gather the will to kill her. It was then that Lux saw it. The hesitation. His eyes drifted to her jaw, strands of wet blonde hair plastered to it, then to her chest, heaving from efforts to catch her breath, and finally settled on her lips, parted slightly as the air coursed through them.

The blonde dared to break the silence.

"Ta-" She started, but the thought was left unfinished. His lips came crashing down over hers, a sensation of need coursing through both parties. Lux barely registered Talon slipping his knife back into his pocket before he wrapped his arm around her waist. Her own hands came curling around the assassin's neck, pulling his head down to hers. He responded to her advances, ardently slipping his tongue inside her mouth, earning a small sigh from the mage.

Reacting keenly to the assassin, Lux could feel her breasts press to his chest as she stood flush against him. His arms tightened around her waist as a low growl rumbled through his chest, causing the mage to blush. Talon was making no effort to hide his desire and that sort of unapologetic passion made the blood rush to Lux's head and her knees go weak. His hand shifted up her side and his thumb and continued to slip over the curve of her breast.

As the pad of his digit pressed into her nipple through the black cloth of her bodice, Lux felt the rush of pleasure course through her, and it was only as the heated moan left her mouth that she realized she had conjured any sounds at all. Talon captured her breath in a kiss that Lux could not label as anything other than encompassing. He kissed her so fervently, it was a miracle that Lux processed the thought she had next at all.

She had the upper hand. Lux knew it was low, and she knew it was dishonorable, but she also knew it was necessary. So even though the assassin kissed her so thoroughly, so hungrily, suggesting pleasures far beyond anything Lux had ever experienced, the mage drew on the power within her, and without a second moment of hesitation, kneed the man forcefully in the gut.

A startling grunt of pain erupted from the assassin, and Lux wasted no time in her escape. She ran desperately for the end of the alleyway, ignoring the pain in her feet, the cold on her skin, and the tingling sensation that still coursed through lips, determined to meet the busy boulevard and safety of a hotel while she could. Reaching the street, Lux felt a wave of relief rush over her, knowing she would be safe, or at least, aided, should the assassin continue to pursue her.

The smart part of Lux knew she should head straight for the hotel and call on Ezreal as soon as possible. But the impulsive part of Lux most certainly had control that night, and so without any reasonable explanation, Lux found herself glancing back down the alleyway, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the man she had just shared an incredible moment of passion with.

And one last glimpse she got. Talon stood in the alleyway, shrouded by the shadows, still hunched and holding his stomach, staring back at the curious mage. Though Lux only saw the assassin for the briefest of seconds, shaded thoroughly and almost invisible, his expression was as clear as day. His brow was furrowed, lips pressed in a thin line, staring hard at the mage with intensely dark eyes. In his eyes Lux could sense the lust, the anger, and every other feeling that seemed natural for the assassin, but the emotion that shocked her most was one she had not expected to see. Agony.


	5. Reunion

**Part Two**

It had been just two and a half years since Lux and Talon had gone on their three night expedition together, and it remained little more than a memory for the mage. She had found Ezreal with relative ease just after she escaped Talon. With a quick message sent to his room by the hotel staff, he came down to fetch her, and proceeded to escort her safely back to Demacia.

If the Crownguards had had any doubt in Ezreal's character before that act of heroism, it had entirely vanished afterwards. While Garen still remained reasonably suspicious of the explorer, as all older brothers should, Lux's parents continuously invited him to dinner after dinner, ball after ball, and it was not long before her parents started talk of marriage.

But one thing had been made clear for Lux in her time in Noxus; Ezreal was a fine fellow, but he wasn't for her. All it took was one thought back to either of the kisses she had shared with the notorious Blade's Shadow and Lux knew Ezreal couldn't be the one for her. Talon had shown her more passion in just one night with just two kisses than Ezreal had ever presented to her. And she had lost her virginity to the explorer.

So the Crownguards pressed on, and Ezreal became hopeful, but Lux wasn't anything if not diplomatic, and she politely shut the explorer down and forcefully told her parents to shove it. That ended the drama on Lux's end, but it did not end the excitement, for shortly afterwards, the League of Legends came into existence, and the mage soon found herself wound up in battles at the Institute of War.

The League of Legends brought many things with it, the most beneficial of which was peace with Noxus. Lux found herself befriending champions from all across Runeterra, and she was not alone. In time, and with a shocking declaration by her own brother, Garen, the Crownguard family found themselves planning a wedding, not the one they had originally expected between Ezreal and Lux, but instead one that would unite them with the notorious Du Couteaus. Garen and Katarina seemed a curious couple to Lux, but she had seen them time enough in the Institute of War to know that they had feelings for each other.

Initially, Lux had feared that she would encounter Katarina's brother, whom she had mostly forgotten about in her time away from Noxus, but that proved to not be the case. Even though Garen's engagement to Katarina meant more connection with the Du Couteaus, the couple met mostly on neutral grounds, and Lux was not once forced to travel back to Noxus and face the man she last saw in a dark, rainy alleyway. He had not even joined the League of Legends, a fact that Lux took great solace in.

So Lux continued her life blissfully, still fending off advances from Ezreal, looking forward to her brother's wedding, and proving herself a worthy champion in the League of Legends.

* * *

"I wonder if Ezreal will be in the bottom lane." Tryndamere thought aloud as Lux's team readied for their next battle. "He's got quite the crush on you, Lux. Would help our chances of winning."

"Or maybe it'll be Ashe." Sarah Fortune offered with a devious smirk. "That will really screw you up, Tryndamere."

"Oh I'm sure he'll be able to handle himself." Lux said optimistically. "Until she gives him the cold shoulder and tells him he's sleeping on the couch for the rest of the month."

Sarah laughed at Lux's comment but the barbarian, easily angered as usual, fought back. "She wouldn't do that! We have an agreement about league matches."

"Oh I'm sure." Sarah goaded. "And when's the last time you had sex?"

"I could as you the same question." Tryndamere shot back. "But Pantheon already told me. Or should I say Mantheon?"

"Please." Sarah waved his comment off while Lux laughed at their squabble. "It was Jayce. I might be a loose woman but I do have good taste in men."

Laughing thoroughly, Lux was having difficulty pulling on her boots. After a couple breaths she was able to contribute to the conversation. "I doubt Ezreal would perform any worse if I were in the game. Just as Tryndamere would still do his best if Ashe was against us."

"It's a moot point, regardless." Leona became the voice of reason. "It's Lucian and Sona in the bottom lane. Didn't you guys watch the draft?"

"I watched some." Tryndamere replied earnestly. Lux listened to the conversation casually as she finished with her last boot. In all honesty, she had not payed attention to the draft herself. She rarely did anymore. She knew all of her matchups well, and all she needed to do was just check the scoreboard once they entered the rift and make sure she bought the correct items.

"There's that new guy in the midlane, right?" Tryndamere asked, piquing Lux's curiosity. She hadn't heard of any new champions joining the League. But then again, she hadn't had too much time to pay attention to these sorts of things.

"Talon, I think his name is." Leona informed.

"He looks handsome." Sarah added, with a particularly girly voice.

"You should be careful, Lux." Leona offered. "He seems like he can exploit all of your weak points."

But Lux was too stunned to reply. Her face paled to match the color of the white walls behind her, and her dry mouth opened in shock.

"Lux?" Leona asked in a concerned tone.

"Talon," Lux cleared her throat, willing her vocal chords into motion. "Talon Du Couteau? Do you mean Talon Du Couteau?"

"The one and only." Sarah replied. "His sister is marrying your brother, right? Wait, do you know him?"

"Um," Lux paused, barely able to think, much less answer the question in any sort of eloquent manner. "Yeah."

"Sounds complicated." Tryndamere said with a chuckle. "Get into a fight with him or something?"

"Stop pressing her." Leona ordered. "She clearly doesn't want to talk about it."

"Whatever." She heard Tryndamere shrug off the conversation as he walked towards the entrance door. "Game's about to start."

And so it was. Lux willed herself to stand and made her way to the door. Slowly, she stepped onto the proving ground, greeted by the familiar voice saying, "Welcome to Summoner's Rift."

Dazed, Lux approached the shop and stared blankly at the merchant until he prompted her.

"Miss?" He said curiously, hoping to wake her from her sleep-like state.

Lux shook herself into reality and began to debate on what item to buy. The normal route would suggest Doran's Ring, but something told Lux that wasn't the right item. Really, she thought Liandry's Torment would be appropriate, so she could hide and perhaps save herself some humiliation, but in the end she stuck with the ring and two pots.

Cautiously, she approached lane, hiding under her turret until the minions marched past. She walked with the caster minions to the center of the lane, still unprepared to meet the assassin.

When she arrived, she was surprised to see no sign of Talon. Lux, however, was smart enough to realize that didn't mean he wasn't around. She watched as the minions fought, coming closer to death each time, but the assassin didn't reveal himself and Lux resolved to get her gold. Minion after minion, the mage waited for Talon to appear, but he remained hidden. Unconsciously, Lux found herself killing the enemy minions before their time, and it wasn't long before the natural push towards his tower began.

The first and second waves perished and with the third, Lux was pushed all the way to his turret. It was four minutes into the game, and the assassin was still missing. The nerves in Lux's spine started to tingle, and immediately she began to worry about the jungler's location. For the life of her, she couldn't even remember who the jungler was. It wasn't until the Demacian standard was thrust into the ground before her that realization dawned on the mage.

Jarvan IV was on her before she could react. He wore his classic half-smile, half-smirk, something Lux had grown accustomed to in the time she had known the prince. As he shoved into her, knocking her back just barely into tower range, she heard his commanding voice ring out.

"You know I'm sorry to do this to you, Lux." He smiled almost evilly at her.

Lux realized that his gank was effective, but not life-threatening. On his own, this early in the game, he was not even enough threat to make her flash. Staggering out of the tower range while throwing a binding at the prince, Lux retorted. "No you aren't. Don't lie, Jarvan."

"That's rich." A familiar dark voice sounded from behind the mage. "Coming from you."

Having just barely enough time to turn her head to see the hooded face linked with the deep, rumbling voice, Lux stared intensely into Talon's eyes for the longest of seconds. But then that second ended, and the assassin's blade finally connected with her flesh.

"First blood."

It was twenty minutes into the game and safe to say things were not looking good for Lux's team. The laning phase had been nothing short of a nightmare for the mage. Jarvan had returned twice more, easily securing kills for Talon, and by the third time Lux shamefully returned to lane, Talon was able to assassinate her whenever he pleased.

He had been smart about it too. He pushed hard when she was dead, denying gold on her path back to lane, and never pushed when she returned, always baiting Lux out of turret range. When he had forced the minions to her tower, he would roam top or bottom to cause trouble for the other lanes, leaving her tower alive, forcing her further from safety when she did return. He had twelve kills on the board just as they hit the twenty minute mark.

"We need to get eyes on baron." Leona stated, hoping to resolve some of the issues their team was faced with.

The bottom lane, ganks by Talon aside, had done fairly well for themselves. What Amumu had not done for Lux he had done for Leona and Miss Fortune, allowing them to appropriately snowball their lane. Leona and Sarah rotated to the mid lane, allowing Leona greater access to place wards, and letting Lux have some time to catch up and collect gold in the bottom lane.

Lux enjoyed a full minute of reprieve until Leona called out to her.

"Talon is missing!" She hollered from the middle lane, alerting the team to roaming potential.

He was the only one though. Gangplank was still in the top lane trading with Tryndamere, and Lucian, Sona, and Jarvan were all accounted for in the middle lane. It was likely that Talon went back to base to buy, and Lux, feeling safe near the bottom lane tier two, continued to farm.

But therein lay her mistake. She thought he wouldn't be bloodthirsty enough to come after the poor, underleveled mage worth very little gold. She thought he had better things to do than dive towers for one kill. She thought wrong.

"Crownguard." She heard the familiar voice ring out as Talon stepped out of the brush. "Or do you prefer Lucy?"

"What do you want, Talon?" Lux glared at the man, refusing to let him goad her.

"A lot of things." He shrugged casually as he walked into lane, stepping behind his minions. "I'm a greedy man, you know."

"And so that's why you joined the League of Legends?" She raised an eyebrow. "Because the pay is good?"

A cool smirk played on his lips just before he vanished from her sight. Reappearing behind her, he whispered in her ear. "I never said I wanted money."

Quickly, she turned on the assassin, determined to face him squarely.

"Quit it with the games, Talon." The mage stated firmly, hoping to appear cold in her demeanor. However, she could feel the teasings of a blush crawling up her neck as the close proximity to the assassin brought back heated memories.

"I kissed you." He leaned in close, cool breath brushing past her cheeks. Lux could only watch as his eyes drifted down towards her lips and his face drew near. The assassin continued, teasing a third kiss that could rival the previous ones, but just as his lips were about the meet hers, the assassin spoke.

"Now I have to kill you."

* * *

Exhausted, frustrated, and generally moody, Lux lethargically made her way to Jarvan's study. It had been a long week for the mage. Talon had been everywhere on the rift, seeing extra time from his debut, especially against Lux, because he seemed so effective. And it was true. There was little Lux felt she could do to stop the assassin. She often lost, finding herself at a miserable 20% win-rate against the Noxian.

The only saving grace was that the assassin didn't say much. He'd offer the clever worded taunt from time to time, always drawing a blush from her cheeks, but beyond that, she was never forced into conversation with the man. He kept to himself outside of the matches, and within a couple of days, things had relatively gone back to normal for the mage.

Sighing, she pulled open the door to Jarvan's study, finding him perusing through documents behind his desk. She sat in an ornately decorated wooden chair, directly across from the future King of Demacia, ready to give him a piece of her mind if he didn't make the meeting short.

"Evening Lux." He said as he looked up from his papers, tucking them away in a drawer. "Hope you're not too tired after having your ass handed to you by a Noxian for the entire week."

"Shut up, Jarvan." She snapped at the grinning prince.

"Alright, I'll let it rest." He put his hands in the air as a display of his surrender. "Though I will say he seems to hold a special grudge for you in particular."

"It's probably because he can't beat up my brother without Katarina getting mad at him." Lux lied.

"Regardless, I need you to do me a favor." He reached in another desk and pulled out a slip of paper.

"A couple years ago, on your last mission in Noxus, you reported that Talon had stolen a book from the Jenkinses, is that correct?"

"Yes." Lux replied hard, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Is this this book?" Jarvan asked, pointing to a sketch of the book on a white piece of paper. The cover of the book bore a picture of a door carved in a stone wall, ivy and moss creeping up the sides.

"It is."

"Well, as it turns out, Garen saw Talon carrying this book around the Du Couteau residence a couple nights ago." The prince continued. "Naturally, we're a little curious what might have made Talon hold onto the text for so long, and why it hasn't been filed away in Swain's archives. This presents a particularly unique opportunity for us, as you might imagine."

"I don't like where this is headed." Lux said as she sunk back into the chair.

"Garen said that he could get Katarina to invite you over to her house for a sleepover. Something about being a bridesmaid?"

It was true. This had been settled sometime earlier in the year, when Garen and Katarina had just been talking about the essentials. The Crownguards, being the noble family that they were, had expected Katarina to offer a bridesmaid position to Lux, the sister of her fiancé. Katarina, being from a noble family, Noxian or not, had done just that. Just two days ago, Katarina had offered an invitation to a bridesmaid's sleepover party. She was still waiting on an answer.

"Look, Jarvan, can't you get someone else to go do this?" She tried to reason with the prince. "I'm not a thief. And it's not very proper to steal things. Aren't you worried you'll start another war?"

"Start a war?" Jarvan laughed. "For stealing something that's Demacian property anyways? I doubt it."

"How do you know it's Demacian property?' Lux raised an eyebrow.

But Jarvan ignored her question. "You'll be right there, in the house. And don't give me this 'I'm no thief' excuse. Maybe you're not used to stealing things, but you're the best sneak around."

Folding her arms in front of her chest, the mage spoke. "You tell me what that book is, and I'll get it for you."

"I'll do you one better." The prince said as he leaned in. "You steal it, and it's yours."


	6. Illuminating the Enemy

_Author's Note: Hi guys! I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who favorited/followed/reviewed the first five chapters of Sub Rosa! It was much more than I had been expecting, and, needless to say, I'm awfully flattering. I'm happy you guys enjoy Sub Rosa as much as I do, and I hope you will enjoy this next chapter just as much!_

 _Also, I updated pretty quickly, and I don't want to falsely raise your hopes that every chapter will be submitted this fast. I've got finals in about a week, so it should be a little hectic until then, but afterwards I will be able to dedicate a good amount of time to finishing this fanfic. :)_

Exhausted, frustrated, and generally moody, Lux lethargically made her way to Jarvan's study. It had been a long week for the mage. Talon had been everywhere on the rift, seeing extra time from his debut, especially against Lux, because he seemed so effective. And it was true. There was little Lux felt she could do to stop the assassin. She often lost, finding herself at a miserable 20% win-rate against the Noxian.

The only saving grace was that the assassin didn't say much. He'd offer the clever worded taunt from time to time, always drawing a blush from her cheeks, but beyond that, she was never forced into conversation with the man. He kept to himself outside of the matches, and within a couple of days, things had relatively gone back to normal for the mage.

Sighing, she pulled open the door to Jarvan's study, finding him perusing through documents behind his desk. She sat in an ornately decorated wooden chair, directly across from the future King of Demacia, ready to give him a piece of her mind if he didn't make the meeting short.

"Evening Lux." He said as he looked up from his papers, tucking them away in a drawer. "Hope you're not too tired after having your ass handed to you by a Noxian for the entire week."

"Shut up, Jarvan." She snapped at the grinning prince.

"Alright, I'll let it rest." He put his hands in the air as a display of his surrender. "Though I will say he seems to hold a special grudge for you in particular."

"It's probably because he can't beat up my brother without Katarina getting mad at him." Lux lied.

"Regardless, I need you to do me a favor." He reached in another desk and pulled out a slip of paper.

"A couple years ago, on your last mission in Noxus, you reported that Talon had stolen a book from the Jenkinses, is that correct?"

"Yes." Lux replied hard, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Is this this book?" Jarvan asked, pointing to a sketch of the book on a white piece of paper. The cover of the book bore a picture of a door carved in a stone wall, ivy and moss creeping up the sides.

"It is."

"Well, as it turns out, Garen saw Talon carrying this book around the Du Couteau residence a couple nights ago." The prince continued. "Naturally, we're a little curious what might have made Talon hold onto the text for so long, and why it hasn't been filed away in Swain's archives. This presents a particularly unique opportunity for us, as you might imagine."

"I don't like where this is headed." Lux said as she sunk back into the chair.

"Garen said that he could get Katarina to invite you over to her house for a sleepover. Something about being a bridesmaid?"

It was true. This had been settled sometime earlier in the year, when Garen and Katarina had just been talking about the essentials. The Crownguards, being the noble family that they were, had expected Katarina to offer a bridesmaid position to Lux, the sister of her fiancé. Katarina, being from a noble family, Noxian or not, had done just that. Just two days ago, Katarina had offered an invitation to a bridesmaid's sleepover party. She was still waiting on an answer.

"Look, Jarvan, can't you get someone else to go do this?" She tried to reason with the prince. "I'm not a thief. And it's not very proper to steal things. Aren't you worried you'll start another war?"

"Start a war?" Jarvan laughed. "For stealing something that's Demacian property anyways? I doubt it."

"How do you know it's Demacian property?' Lux raised an eyebrow.

But Jarvan ignored her question. "You'll be right there, in the house. And don't give me this 'I'm no thief' excuse. Maybe you're not used to stealing things, but you're the best sneak around."

Folding her arms in front of her chest, the mage spoke. "You tell me what that book is, and I'll get it for you."

"I'll do you one better." The prince said as he leaned in. "You steal it, and it's yours."

* * *

Approaching the Du Couteau residence, Lux couldn't help but think that despite all the times she had been in the city, this was the first for which she was welcomed. Of course, welcomed was a relative word, because even Lux wondered just how receiving Katarina's other bridesmaids would be. Granted, there were only a few to be concerned with, Cassiopeia, LeBlanc, and Morgana, but all three were dark and dangerous enough to make Lux nervous. Still, what bit most at her nerves was the expected presence of a fourth person, another Du Couteau she knew wanted her blood.

So Lux knocked on the door quietly, hoping no one would answer and she could just call it quits. Luck was not on her side that night.

"Hey!" A gorgeous redhead said as she pulled open the door to the estate. "Took you long enough! How's my future sister in law?"

Smiling sheepishly, Lux stepped inside the manor.

"Oh I'm fine, thanks." She replied sweetly.

"No thanks to my brother." Katarina offered as she lead Lux through the manor. "I told him to stop giving you such a hard time, but I think he just doesn't like Demacians. Silly Talon, doesn't realize what he's missing."

Blushing, Lux was relieved from a response as she stepped into the living room, only to be greeted by three Noxian faces.

Cassiopeia sat smoothly on the couch, gazing up at Lux with her piercing eyes. Next to her lounged LeBlanc, who looked like she couldn't care less about the new arrival. Morgana sat in an armchair across from the couch, facing the two other women.

"Girls," Katarina said to her other bridesmaids. "You all know Lux?"

LeBlanc, who was sitting next to the snake woman, had something to say. "I hope you know how to play cards, because we're about to start a round of poker. Wait, do they even have cards in Demacia?"

Giggling, Katarina scolded the deceiver. "Oh be nice, LeBlanc."

But Lux just stood there with a blank face, staring at Katarina. "What's a card?"

It took the Noxian women a moment, but then Morgana laughed and the rest followed suit, appreciating her joke.

"The Demacian girl has a sense of humor," LeBlanc smiled approvingly.

"From what I know of her brother, I would have guessed otherwise." Cassiopeia added.

"Well, you know what I say," Katarina spoke smugly. "I like my men like I like my deserts. Intense, rugged, and dry."

"You know Garen says a similar thing. He says he likes his women like he likes his coffee." Lux could barely contain her smile.

"Oh, and how's that?" Katarina raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Hot, strong, and with a spoon in them."

* * *

Once Lux had established herself as a rather sociable woman instead of the light touting girly girl shouting "In the name of Demacia, I will punish you!" at everyone (which she certainly did do from time to time), Katarina's bridesmaids took to her easily. It helped that the blonde was also fairly talented at cards. She had taken somewhat of an interest in the past-time since her expedition to Bilgewater, and had bothered to learn a few more games than just poker.

So the girls played on into the night, and around eleven the booze was pulled out. Drinks were downed one after the other, and eventually the liquor caught up with them. The three bridesmaids and the bride herself were out cold by two in the morning.

Lux, however, had a mission. So, relatively light drinking, coupled with the fact that she could hold her liquor well, allowed the blonde to survive into the wee hours of the morning. After she was certain all four women had fallen asleep, Lux got down to business.

From what Jarvan and Garen had told her, Lux knew the book in question was likely kept in one of three places: the library, Talon's study, or Talon's room. Naturally, Talon's room was last in the order of spaces Lux intended to search. The library was a tempting start, but given how large the collection would likely be, the study seemed to be the most suitable place to start looking.

Recalling a blueprint of the Du Couteau estate she had taken the time to memorize beforehand, Lux made her way out of the living room, down the hallway, and towards the grand stairs that led to the upper level. She walked carefully up the stone steps, keeping a wary eye out for suspicious movement.

Now, Lux wasn't normally a skittish girl, but something about the house, the eerie blue light that shone through every window, the complete silence that made it possible for her to listen to her own heartbeat, the cold stone cooling her feet even through her warm socks, was making her tense. Carefully, she approached the top of the steps and turned to the left to head towards the study, but not before a flash of red caught her eye.

Heart pounding, Lux whipped in the direction of the red, ready to draw on magic if need be. But nothing was there. Or so she thought, until she saw a little red poker chip, laying on a display table in the center of the hallway. Like a moth drawn to a flame, Lux wandered over to the coin, entranced by its presence. Regarding it cautiously, she wondered what it could possibly be doing there.

The cool, smooth coin slid easily between her fingers, but it remained just that. A poker chip. From what Lux could tell, there was no magic in this item. But she was certain it had a purpose. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence.

She didn't take long to find the next one. Some twenty feet down the hallway lay another red chip, leading to the West Wing. She proceeded to the next clue, uncertain who had placed them and for what purpose, but not without a suspicion. From there, another chip could be spotted, at a turn that lead towards two locations Lux had originally been headed. The study and his room.

In Talon's corridor lay the last red chip, sitting unassumingly in the middle, and as Lux approached the fourth coin, she knew she had made a mistake. Whether the mistake was following the chips or agreeing to Jarvan's crazy proposal in the first place, she couldn't be sure. But she knew it was a mistake the moment she saw a masculine silhouette leaning against the door to the room of the one man she desperately hoped to avoid.

"I'm surprised you came." The dark voice spoke as the hooded figure stepped into the light, revealing a face that Lux had become far too intimate with.

All that Lux could do was stare dumbly at the assassin in front of her, frozen in place by an ambiguous jumble of emotions.

"This what you're looking for?" The assassin taunted as he held up a familiar old tome.

Finally finding her voice, the mage spoke the first thing that came to mind. "How did you know?"

"Who told you this book was hidden here? Who saw it? Who was it seen _with_?" He asked rhetorically. "You're very talented with mind games, Lux, but you aren't the only one."

Taking a step back, Lux began to feel a creeping sensation in her spine. She had been set up. Like the devious Noxian he was, Talon had placed the clues and rigged the game. It was no accident that Garen had seen him holding the book. He had planned for her to be sent on this mission. But why? Her danger sense flared and immediately she felt it prudent to run back to safety as soon as possible.

He must have seen it on her face for he was on her in a flash. A broad hand cupped around mouth and another forcefully grabbed her arm. The next thing she knew was that she had been thrown into the bedroom, and between her and the exit stood a very formidable foe.

For a final touch, Talon shut the door. The darkness immediately seemed too intense for Lux, and she knew the assassin would have the upper hand in this element. That was not something she could afford to have, so in an effort to even the playing field, the mage shot out a lucent singularity to bring some light to the room.

Talon leaned casually against the door despite her use of magic. The swirling ball of light lit the room well enough for Lux to see his rugged face, and it wasn't until then that she realized the man was smirking. Bastard.

"There's not a mage in Noxus that's quite like you, Crownguard." He smiled appreciatively, inspecting her handiwork with the singularity.

"Compliments rarely come from your tongue." Lux said coolly as she backed herself further into the room until she came into contact with a wooden desk. "You must want something."

"I do." He replied easily. "Your magic is more or less necessary for me to accomplish what I intend to."

"And what's that?" Lux asked, eyeing the window in his room. It wasn't very large, but it was certainly big enough for her to fit her body through. The only trouble was that it hung over Talon's bed. She turned her head immediately from the area, but not before a blush started to form on her cheeks.

A chuckle escaped the assassin's lips, and Lux did not think it had very much to do with her question. "Simply put, this is a book of spells. Very complex ones, from what I've been able to discern. However, neither I nor any of my contacts have quite the specialization to cast them. How fortunate for me, however, that the brother of the most talented mage in all of Demacia is marrying into the family."

"I'm not going to help you." Lux stated firmly, staring bitterly back at the assassin.

"You won't be able to steal this from me, Lux." His gaze turned dark. "Don't forget who you're dealing with."

Lux was caught in quite the predicament. Of course, she wanted to read the book. She had been interested in the artifact even before Talon had mentioned spellwork. Now that he had, there was very little chance the text would escape her mind. On the other hand, however, she most certainly hadn't forgotten who she was dealing with. It wasn't the assassinry that she was particularly concerned with, though he had proven himself more than a fair match for her in the two and half weeks since he had joined the League of Legends.

No it was the way his gaze seemed to strip her bare, like he could see right into her head. He made her feel exposed and vulnerable, two emotions that were not too surprising to feel around a killer, but there was something else. The way her heart pumped, her face flushed, and her thoughts raced were all indicators of excitement, and though Lux knew being around the man was a thrilling experience, she still preferred to deny it.

"I will help you if I can have the book once we are finished." She stated, knowing she'd likely just made a very dangerous offer.

The assassin pondered for a minute, as if considering her suggestion, but Lux suspected, given the way his eyes stayed on her form and his stare never once drifted into space, that he had made up his mind the moment she presented the proposal.

"I can accept those terms." He spoke coolly, as if he was taunting her. Like he knew something she didn't. "You can have the book, once we are finished."

"And the book will still be in tact once we're finished? Readable as well?" She raised an eyebrow. A girl could never be too careful.

But he just chuckled. "Of course."

"When do we start?" Lux asked curiously.

"Monday." He replied casually. "In the Institute Library, after matches end."

"Will you let me leave now?" She looked shyly at the assassin, blushing at the question's implications, and the fact that she was still in his bedroom. Rather late at night, she might add.

The smile faded from his face as a familiar dark expression tinted his eyes. "You were never forced to stay."

Without another word, Lux headed for the door, inching around him as she made her way back into the hallway and down to the living room. Thoughts flooded her mind as she escaped the confines of his presence, and though she tried to push them away and save them for processing at a more appropriate time, she couldn't help but think that his last comment hadn't only been referring to that encounter. How much had he thought of her in the years she had been away from him? That was one question she might never find the answer to.

* * *

"You were on fire today, Lux." Tristana offered appreciatively as they walked from the locker room.

"Thanks!" She smiled back at the yordle. "You did quite well yourself."

"Yeah, it's true, but from what I've heard you only lost one battle the whole day." Tristana spoke with no small amount of reverence.

"I never think about losing." Lux replied casually. "Keeps me focused."

"No kidding." Tristana laughed. "I'll have to take a page out of your book."

Lux smiled at the yordle and opened her mouth to respond, but not before another voice sounded down the hallway.

"Trist!" Rumble hollered. "Come here! I've got some upgrades to show you."

Chuckling, Tristana looked back at Lux. "I'll catch you around, Lux."

"Bye!" Lux waved to the yordle as she walked off to join Rumble. She was honestly surprised how casual Tristana was with the mechanic, considering how evident his crush was. Still, nothing had surfaced between the two, leaving Rumble the perpetual task of finding ways to impress her.

Wandering off towards the library, Lux considered her earlier performance. What Tristana said had been true, she had been on killing spree after killing spree, and there was no doubt in her mind what was driving it. Truth be told, the mage was really rather excited for her meeting with Talon. Assassin aside, she was strangely curious about the book, and this would be the first day she'd get the opportunity to read it.

Entering the library, Lux just barely spotted Talon sitting on the upper level, engrossed in what had to be the tome she was so excited to read. It took way more control than Lux would have liked to keep herself from skipping over to the man.

Once she finally did take her seat across from Talon, she had no idea how to start the conversation. The assassin coolly looked up from the pages of the tome. Setting the book down, he got straight to business.

"Let's get one thing straight." He bore a hard look. "You'll only read what I tell you to. If I find you're inspecting more into this book than I should like, you'll be sleeping with the fishes."

"So serious!" She smiled at the man despite his temperament. "Alright I won't read into it, not at least until it's mine. Then I'll do some real work!"

The assassin raised an eyebrow, as if questioning her mood.

Lux remained unphased. "What's it called? Who wrote it? Can you at least answer me these questions?"

"Parfuin Gûl." He replied easily. "That is the book's name. The author, on the other hand, is without identification, though I suspect, given the title and references to certain locations, he was an ancient Demacian."

"How did it get into the Jenkinses hands?" Lux inquired.

"I'm sure that's a very long and complicated story, one that I don't have the answer to." He replied dryly.

"Wait a second." Lux squinted at the man. "Didn't you say this was a military book?"

"I said it was a book of magic." The assassin leaned back in his chair.

"No, no. That's not right." She crossed her arms. "Back when we first stole it from the Jenkinses I asked about the book and you told me it was a military text."

"Given all the lying that you do I'd think you'd know what happened there."

Lux frowned. "Don't tell me you're still butthurt about me being an undercover agent. I've never known assassins, particularly Noxian ones, to value honesty so heavily."

"And I've never known Demacians to moan so sweetly for Noxians, but I guess we all have misconceptions about the world." He replied smugly, smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

A hot blush formed on the mage's cheeks as she faced Talon's words. She found it hard to come up with a good retort.

"I only kissed you because Twisted Fate was about to give me away!" She whispered fiercely, trying to defend her dignity.

"Lot of good it did." He paused a moment and the smirk grew. "And that still doesn't explain the alleyway."

Pressing her lips together, Lux tried not to think about that kiss, or how red her face must be.

"I did what I had to." She replied in a hard voice, hoping to end the conversation, but he didn't stop.

"So you had to kiss me." Leaning in towards her, Talon's voice dropped to a whisper. "It was that good."

"Oh shut up!" Lux cried in a voice just a touch too loud for the library. She took a small second to calm herself and then spoke in a quieter voice. "Don't we have work to do?"

Chuckling, Talon let the conversation drop. "Yes we do."

Flipping to a seemingly random page, Talon pointed to a paragraph and handed the book to Lux. "Read."

She took the book carefully and glanced down at the page. Then a thought crossed her mind and she looked back to the assassin.

"What are you going to do while I read?" She asked.

"I'll sit. I'm sure you'll have questions soon enough. Besides, I need to be sure you don't flip to any restricted pages."

"I don't understand why you're so twitchy about me reading the other material." She muttered as she looked back down at the book.

"Knowledge is power." He replied simply, as if that should be enough to satisfy her question.

Looking down at the handwritten words on the aged page, Lux was mildly surprised to find the test was readable in common tongue. She was able to get through the passage Talon had requested her to read without too much trouble, and when she did have questions, the assassin was hardly useful. She had the distinct feeling he was withholding information from her, but he'd have to give her answers eventually. There was only so much she could do on limited knowledge.

It took her only about half an hour to muddle through the scripture, and as she began to turn a new page, Talon stopped her abruptly.

"That'll be enough." He said forcefully, closing the book and taking it from her side of the table.

"Well that was a very cryptic read." She mused thoughtfully. "It sounds almost like a recipe."

"I'm only concerned with the ritual." He replied stoically.

"Alrighty then." Lux replied. "Assuming you have all of the necessary ingredients, the vessel, the fëa, and the Sunwater, I'll just be needing to dip the vessel into the well, and then perform a binding spell to link the fëa to the vessel. Of course, it's a little more complicated than that, but being the assassin that you are, I don't think you would quite understand the intricacies of binding spells."

"You're confident you would be able to perform the spell?" Talon raised an eyebrow, as if questioning her capabilities.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's guaranteed." She hedged. "But I think I should be able to manage it. That's the least of your problems though. I mean, what on Runeterra is a fëa? And Sunwater? I've never heard of it. The vessel is the only thing that sounds familiar, but I don't even know what it is supposed to be."

"It's a lot simpler than you might imagine." His eyes narrowed. Clearly he did not want to divulge too much information. After a moment of pause, he sighed. "The 'Faercrist', the item I'm looking to forge, is a sword. Vessel is just another term for the body of the sword; blade, hilt, and all."

"Ok," Lux accepted his answer, but there was still too much left unknown. "But what about Sunwater?"

"Sunwater can be found at the Oasis of the Dawn." He replied easily. "At the center of Shurima."

"And the fëa?"

He smirked. "That is not for you to know."

"Oh I beg to differ!" Crossing her arms, Lux looked defiantly at the man. "Binding spells are serious business. I would approach binding a source of magic to a sword much differently than I would say a light source. What a fëa is has a great impact on how I would bind it."

"I believe in the text it instructs you to think of the fëa as an essence. Or am I wrong?" He rebuttled.

"Yes…" Lux practically growled. He had a fair point. The book had been pretty thorough on how to approach the binding spell, but she had still wanted answers. After all, it was the safe thing to do.

"I think the book gave you enough information as it is." His satisfied expression did little to calm the mage.

"I don't understand why you're being so secretive. I'm just going to read it once we make this sword anyways." She countered.

"Once I have my sword, it won't matter to me how much you do or don't know."

"Fine. I'll just wait then." Lux let the argument drop. She had other ways of finding out this sort of information.

"We'll be leaving for Shurima on the 19th." He stated matter-of-factly. "You should probably look into getting properly supplied for the journey sometime before Garen and Kat's wedding."

"The 19th?" Lux questioned. "That's only two days after the wedding! Hell, that's only a week and a half from today!"

"You have something better to do?" He challenged.

Frowning, the mage muttered a simple "No."

And that was that. Telling Lux "you're going to have to leave for Shurima in under two weeks, no buts" was like commanding her to eat the best slice of strawberry cheesecake she could imagine. There were worser things in life.

But she had a lot to do in the meantime. Ezreal was going to be a piece of work, to be sure, but he'd help her out with travelling supplies. Digging up information on Faercrist and the mysterious fëa object were going to be a different beast altogether. At least she knew where to start. Jarvan was still waiting for her report.

So Lux left the library just as giddily as she had entered it, unimaginably excited for her adventure to Shurima. There was so much to look forward to. Because of her anticipation, the trailblazer within her had completely taken control. And, despite the assassin's aggravating behavior, Lux found herself, dare she say it, thankful for his presence in her life.

 _A/N: I try to live by the lore as best I can, but sometimes Riot gives you too little to work with. Let it be known that the magic and artifacts that Lux and Talon will soon be dabbling in is outside what is mentioned in LoL lore. Perhaps those of you who are diehard LotR fans, like myself, will have noticed already. ;)_


	7. Sounds Dangerous

_Author's Note: In celebration of bombing my programming final, I have posted the new chapter seven! At least if I can't make it as a programmer, I'll still have league! I jest, I jest. I'll just major in math if I have to. ;)_

 _But anyways, about the chapter. Well, there's not much for me to say without spoiling it for you! I will say though, I'm really pumped to write the next chapter, and perhaps by the end of this read, you'll find out why. ;)_

"Lux." Looking up from his papers, Jarvan addressed the newcomer. "Take a seat. I've been waiting on your report for a couple days now."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Lux conceded as she sat across from Jarvan in his study. His tired expression told the mage he had experienced a day full of paperwork and meetings, not something she envied about his title. "It's been a little hectic recently."

"I should say so." He regarded her sternly. "You have been seen with Talon Du Couteau at the library, and as far as I can see, you still haven't produced a book."  
"Well I'm trying to work something out with him. A sort of deal."

"A deal?" The prince raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You do remember who Talon Du Couteau is, Luxanna? His sister might be marrying your brother, but that doesn't mean he'll spare you any blood."

Lux shied away from the use of her full name. He was treating her like a child. "I know, Jarvan. I can handle this."

Jarvan kept his suspicious expression in tact, but said nothing.

"He wants me to help him forge a sword. Once I've done that, he'll give me the book." She explained.

"And the sword is mentioned in the text?" He queried.

Lux nodded.

"You shouldn't help him, Luxanna. Not even to get the book. There is very dark magic written in that tome." He warned solemnly, but leaving her with little information.

"See now this is where you could tell me some stuff." She leaned back in the chair casually. "Who wrote it? Why is it dark? What kind of magic is written in it? These questions need answering."

"Unfortunately, I don't know a whole lot about the tome." He stated simply.

"Tell me what you do know." Lux requested.

Jarvan was hesitant, but he spoke nonetheless.

"It was written by a man whose name has been lost to time, but it is quite clear from the little records we do have that its author was heavily influenced by the Darkin. That's about all I can offer you regarding its content. As for how it came into Noxian hands, I can perhaps say more on that subject.

"The book had been a part of my great-grandfather's personal collection. When he passed, he had willed the book to his most favorite mage, a nephew of his, who, shortly afterwards, ran off to Shurima in search of better things. While I don't know exactly what happened to the man, it is largely assumed that he perished in the desert and left the tome in the sands. Not three years ago, the Jenkinses got hold of the book, apparently having bought it off of Sivir, and offered to sell it to us. As it happened, the price they requested was one we could not pay, and so it lay in the Jenkins estate until you and Talon happened upon the text.

"If you're looking for more information, Sivir may be able to help you out." He suggested after finishing his story.

"I will talk to her then. She could also offer me some good information for travelling to Shurima." Lux thought aloud, planning her moves before her departure.

"Shurima?" The prince questioned. "Why are you going to Shurima?"

Sheepishly, Lux looked down at her lap, knowing Jarvan would not like the answer to that question.

"Lux." He said sternly. "Don't help Talon forge this sword. Especially not if it requires travelling to Shurima to make it. Didn't I just finish telling you that the last Demacian mage who ventured into Shurima with that book died? And probably none too happily either."

"Talon's not going to kill me." She tried to reassure the prince because, after all, there was no way she wasn't going to Shurima. Darkin influence? Book full of evil spells? Unknown fates? Too much temptation for the mage.

"It's not Talon I'm worried about." Jarvan ground out, but then paused a second. "Well, that's not entirely true. Let me rephrase, it's not _only_ Talon I'm worried about."

"Let me do this, Jarvan." She stared fiercely at the prince, her iron will visible in her eyes. "I need to do this."

"Fine." He put his hands up in defeat. "You're an adult. Do what you please."

"I'll be departing on the 19th." She stated simply as she rose from the chair. "I'll see you on the rift."

"Take care, Lux."

* * *

For a woman who made her living by buying and selling artifacts, information, and murder, Sivir was notably difficult to get a hold of. It seemed that in order to catch the Battle Mistress's attention, one had to be a certain _sort_ of person that Lux most definitely was not. For this, Lux had turned to her long time friend, Ezreal, whom she had been meaning to talk anyway.

"Ez!" She smiled brightly at the man as she sat down across from him at the Institute of War's cafeteria. "How's it been?"

"Good." He replied nonchalantly, munching on a sandwich. "What's up?"

Lux got straight to the point. "Do you know Sivir?"

"Yeah," He replied, taking a sip of water. "Why?"

"Think you could get her attention for me? I need to talk to her about something, and I'd be willing to pay a fair price for good information."

"What something?" If there was anyone as matched in curiosity as Lux, it was Ezreal.

"Jarvan asked me to retrieve a book, and, given what little I do know about the text, it would be prudent for me to do some research beforehand." She explained, neglecting to tell him the intricacies of her mission. "From the sounds of it, Sivir might know something."

"Well, sure I can talk to her. How soon do you need?" He asked.

"Before Garen and Katarina's wedding would be great." She breathed a sigh of relief. This had been easier than she thought it would be.

"Alright, I'll ask her to speak to you by then. Mind if I give her your institute apartment address?"

"Not at all." Lux smiled at the explorer. He was so useful at times.

"Speaking of the wedding, do you have a date yet?" He asked casually, though the blush on his cheeks betrayed him.

"No, I don't…" The mage replied hesitantly. She had been thinking about asking Jarvan, in fact, but given their earlier conversation, that seemed less like a possibility. For all of the utility that Ezreal offered, he still did have a schoolboy crush on her, and, in situations like this, there was little Lux could do about it.

"I could escort you if you like." He spoke a little too eagerly.

"That would be nice." Smiling politely, Lux accepted his offer. There were worser dates in the world. But still, she was not finished with the explorer. "Actually I have another request for you."

"Hmm, what's that?" He raised an eyebrow, returning to his sandwich.

"Think you could help me prepare for a trip to Shurima?"

The explorer was visibly shocked. "You're going to Shurima?"

"Yeah I've always wanted to travel there." Not a lie, in fact. She continued. "I'm leaving two days after the wedding, but I'm afraid I don't have proper supplies to venture to the Oasis of the Dawn."

"The Oasis of the Dawn?" He repeated. "That is far. Well yeah I can help you, but you're going to have to do a lot of shopping before the wedding. Are you travelling with anyone?"

"Yeah." The mage replied simply, hoping he would let the question drop.

But he didn't. "Who?"

"Um, I'd rather not say." Lux said cryptically, leaving Ezreal without an answer. She knew he would assume the worst, but, truth be told, the worst was Talon and better to have him assume than to know.

Ezreal frowned. "Ok. Does he or she know how to get there?"

"I think so…" The mage hedged.

"Alright well I'll help you with some of the navigation too. In case you get lost."

"Thanks Ez." Lux smiled at the explorer.

He returned her smile sheepishly, blush intensifying. Lux hadn't meant to lead him on with the smile, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. While she didn't like to be manipulative, Lux did what she had to in order to get what she needed, and if that required a couple of pretty smiles, so be it. Besides, she'd agreed for Ezreal to be her date to the wedding. She'd make her sacrifice in due time.

It wasn't that she didn't like the explorer. In fact, she thought Ezreal was actually rather cute, and of the guys that were present in her life, Ezreal was a good choice as far as boyfriends were concerned. The problem was that he just wasn't man enough for her tastes. He had a small frame, large eyes, and he blushed nearly as much as she did. Ezreal was undeniably cute, but Lux didn't want cute. She wanted someone tall, dark, and handsome. She wanted a mystery.

* * *

Despite Ezreal's connection and Lux's money, Sivir refused to speak to the mage. While it had not surprised Lux that the mercenary was difficult to contact, given her elusive nature, it was rather shocking that she wouldn't agree to be paid. From what Lux had been able to discern in Ezreal's letter addressing the issue, he had been astonished as well. Immediately she knew something was suspect.

While the explorer might not have seen it, Lux, being the spy that she was, was well versed in the business of buying and selling information, enough to know that Sivir wasn't refusing to talk to her because of personal reasons. No, someone had paid her to keep quiet, and it wasn't hard for Lux to guess who.

At first, the mage had grumbled and resolved to do her own research with the resources she had access to. The Institute Library, Royal Demacian Library, and the College of Magic's multitude of books had offered her some answers, such as why Sunwater was important, which was that it held magical properties, apparently capable of enhancing blades, something it had done in the past with particularly notable swords such as the Infinity Edge. From her reading in the Royal Demacian Library she had also learned the meaning of Parfuin Gúl, which was ancient Demacian for "Book of Sorcery".

Still, neither of those discoveries were very fulfilling for the mage. The book's name was altogether a disappointment, and to find that Sunwater was magical was hardly profound. Something told the mage what the real mystery was lay in knowing what the importance of a fëa was. But Lux had run out of sources, and had largely assumed her research to be complete until she, more or less, had an epiphany.

Talon clearly knew of Sivir's involvement in the retrieval of the book, which, while not a very profound realization on its own, gave way to a different understanding that Lux had failed to think of in the week and a half she had been trying to learn the mysteries of the text. She wasn't the only one who had been researching.

Of course, this thought seemed very obvious to Lux, but its implications meant much more. While the libraries she had visited had little useful to offer, there was one library Lux suspected might hold more information. The Du Couteau collection. Gaining access to that particular book repository would normally be a near impossible task to accomplish subtly, but Lux had been presented with the perfect situation. Her brother was marrying a Du Couteau.

As is tradition with noble families of both Noxian and Demacian backgrounds, the bride's family is expected to pay for the wedding. What this meant for Katarina and Garen, but more importantly, for Lux, was that the wedding was being held at the Du Couteau estate. Initially, Lux had not been surprised at all by this choice of venue, given the fact that Katarina, the bride and also the source of money, had the final say in location. But now it offered her an easily excusable access to information she may not have otherwise been able to retrieve. And for that, Lux would travel to Noxus without complaint.

The Du Couteaus and Crownguards lounged in the Red Room with a surprising amount of pleasantry. Dinner, as far as Lux was concerned, had gone relatively well between the rival houses, and she hadn't once felt the need to silence her parents. The mage had somehow managed to avoid Talon during dinner, and even had escaped him as the families retired to socializing and polite card games. While Talon was conversing with her relatives in what seemed to be an appropriate manner, surprising indeed, Lux had deftly avoided the assassin and quickly became involved in a separate circle of discussion.

"I hope you're enjoying your stay here, Lux." Katarina said to the blonde as she sat casually next to her husband to be.

Leaning back unto the plush arm chair in the Du Couteaus' Red Room, Lux smiled at the redhead. "Oh of course! Your estate is quite beautiful. And dinner? I dare say your chefs are the best I've ever tasted."

"My my, where did your sister learn such flattery, Garen?" She swatted the captain's arm playfully.

"You have your trickery, and we have ours." A small smirk formed at the corner of his lips as he teased his fiancée.

The redhead's eyebrows raised. "Oh so your saying she's just lying to me? My house is actually a dump?"

"I would never say that." He said firmly, but Lux could tell he was still playing.

"Goodness Garen, cut her a break." Lux laughed at the couple. "Besides, you're going to be moving here soon enough, so you better like the place."

"She's got a point, Garen." Katarina brought out her signature sinister smile.

"I surrender!" He said, holding his hands up in defeat. He then offered the redhead a sincerely sweet look. "It is a really nice place, Katarina."

"Well, before you two start jumping each other's bones, perhaps you could point me to one room I've heard so much about but never had the pleasure to see." Lux offered, hoping the Du Couteau would take her bait.

"What room is that?" She asked curiously.

"The library. I've heard it's quite the sight to behold." This was not in fact a lie. Working at the Main Palace, especially as an undercover secretary, she'd heard a lot of things about the Du Couteaus and their residence. The magnificence of the library had just been one.

"Yes, our collection is something noteworthy, I've been told." She smiled, getting up from her seat. "Come this way, I'll show you."

Lux followed the redhead out of the room, but a creeping sensation in her back told her someone unfortunate had noticed.

But the mage shook off the feeling and continued alongside Katarina until they reached an ornate set of double doors someway down the hall. The redhead pulled on the handles, grandly opening the entrance to the library. Stepping inside, Katarina turned on the lights and gestured for the mage to appreciate the view.

Lux, for her own part, could barely contain her awe. Truth be told, she didn't know such works of art existed in Noxus. The age-old room bore a certain mystical feeling that rumored of arcane knowledge hidden within the books. A grand staircase lead to a beautiful upper level, from which railing skirted along the half layer, allowing viewers from above to glance down onto the ground floor, or vice versa, as was the case with the mage.

"Do you mind if I…?" Lux unintentionally let her question fall short as she gazed at the library. Her eyes soon caught sight of a beautiful balcony entrance, shielded by two white gossamer curtains, hinting at a bench on the other side of the doors.

"Not at all." The redhead practically laughed. "I'll be back in the Red Room if you need me. Enjoy your reading."

And with that, Katarina shut the door and left.

As stunned as Lux was by the beauty of the book repository, a part of her wondering why Demacian libraries weren't as enchanting, she realized she had a job to do. Now, for any normal person, finding the information Lux was looking for would have been a near impossible task, especially considering the size of the collection. But the mage had learned a thing or two in college, one of which being a particularly useful spell that allowed the user to immediately sense the location of all books referencing a specific topic. Within a certain range, of course.

So Lux channeled, thinking of only the fëa, and was soon rewarded. She found herself climbing up the stairs and into one of the further back sections of the library where two books glowed dimly to her eyes, marking them as sources of pertinent information. Pulling the two texts out of the bookcase, Lux regarded them briefly, making note of their titles.

The first was a glossy new paperback titled _The Intricacies of Ancient Shuriman_ , and upon closer inspection, seemed to be a sort of dictionary. The second was an old dusty tome with the word "Absolution" embossed on the spine. It didn't take much thought for Lux to figure out which one she was going to read first. Immediately, Lux turned to head towards the balcony she had spotted on the lower level, but stopped abruptly as she came face to face with a pair of hard eyes.

"I'd ask you what you're doing with those books but I think I already know the answer to that question." Talon's deep voice rumbled and immediately Lux felt like a toddler who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Lux cautiously regarded the assassin who stood casually in his neatly pressed suit, hands in pockets. A foreign look for the man, but not necessarily a bad one.

"Is there a problem?" Lux asked brightly, hoping he would just let the incident slide, but she knew that was rather unlikely.

"I told you not to do any research." His enigmatic eyes fixed to her form as he leaned against a nearby bookshelf.

Looking up at the man, Lux wondered what she had done to land herself in this situation, aside from trying to discreetly find information in Talon's own library. She tried to think of a way to escape the assassin while still holding onto the books, but in that moment all she could focus on was the five o'clock shadow cresting his jaw. Given how often he sported that look, Lux wasn't sure she could call it five o'clock anymore.

"I don't know what you expect, Talon." She crossed her arms defensively. "You tell me to do your bidding and to run off to Shurima to forge some magical sword, but, oh wait, I can't know anything at all about what I'm trying to accomplish."

"You could just do what I say." He smirked, as if he realized she'd never heed such a suggestion.

A blush crawled onto the mage's cheeks as she registered just how handsome he was in that moment. His dark hair fell lazily around his face, still retaining it's shaggy appearance despite his formal attire. The nearly sinister smirk he must have learned from his sister tugged at the corners of his mouth, hinting at his evilly playful nature. For a moment, the mage wondered if his games were driven by latent feelings and immediately she felt her heart begin to race. Not a second later, her blush intensified as anger coursed through her for having such girlish thoughts.

"That's bullshit, Talon!" She exclaimed in a fit of fury. "If I'm going to venture to a foreign land with an assassin who wants to kill me, then forge some obscenely powerful weapon so he can dispose of me when I'm done, you can be damn well sure I'm going to do my research first."

But the assassin just regarded her coolly, seemingly unphased by her outburst. He said nothing for the better part of a minute, smirk still teasing at his lips, as if he enjoyed watching her rage. Though his expression was hardly calming, the pause in conversation gave Lux just enough time to regain her level head.

"Why are you trying to hide information from me?" She asked coolly, setting the books on a nearby table and peering up at the assassin, feeling as if she had finally asked a question that he might find difficulty answering.

Lux had thought that she would feel proud for unnerving the assassin, but as Talon's expression grew unsettled, the mage instead felt herself drawn into his enigmatic aura. Time seemed to halt as his dark eyes bore into hers, a flurry of indistinguishable emotions swirling in his irises. His casual smirk faltered and his eyebrows creased the slightest amount, alerting the mage to his trouble choosing an answer.

"I don't trust you." He admitted, voice lower than normal.

"Don't trust me to what?" The mage pressed, seeking an explanation. "What do you think I could possibly do, Talon?"

He said nothing, mysterious eyes fixed to her, and something in his expression told Lux she had finally gained the upperhand.

"You'll just kill me," She mused aloud, as if trying to reason through Talon's curious emotions. "If I do something you don't want me to. You're an assassin. I don't see what you have to fear."

His eyes remained focused on her, dark and unrelenting, flickering around her face. Lux wondered if he was trying to read her mind, like she was the puzzling one, but that train of thought did not get very far before the assassin spoke.

"I'm not going to kill you, Lux." He said in explanation, repeating a sentiment he had shared with her years ago.

Lux was initially caught off-guard by his declaration, wondering what had possessed him to say such a thing. It seemed such a strong statement, so out of character, but then the mage saw it in his eyes. She saw the dark, enigmatic expression for what it had been all along, and before a reasonable thought could save her from her own emotions, the mage fell into a trance that would ultimately be her undoing.

Something about the assassin's words had resonated with Lux so profoundly, and in that moment she only felt the need to be closer to the man. She took a wary step forward, closing the distance just four inches, but it wasn't enough. Another foot moved closer to Talon, and by that point Lux was merely an observer of her own life. As she crept towards the assassin, she watched his mysterious stare flicker over her figure, seemingly unsure of her motives.

Her eyes roved over his jaw, eventually dropping to his strong shoulders. They moved further south until her gaze met her hand as she reached out to his blazer, latching onto the fabric. Flashing her gaze back up to his, pupils wide in desire, she ever so gently tugged on the jacket, using the cloth as leverage to pull her face up to his.

Softly, her lips grazed against his, the mage too shy to fully commit, but within a second the assassin had slipped an arm around her waist, pulled her flush against him, and returned her bashful kiss ardently. Lux's free hand found itself at the crook of his neck, barely pulling his neck closer as their kiss grew more heated. Though it started slowly, momentum worked its magic and the couple soon fell into a kiss that was both supple and urgent. It wasn't long before Lux found her lips drawing apart, sequencing an exchange of hot air between the couple, followed by a curious tongue darting out to play with her lower lip.

In a moment of courage, the mage gently caught his tongue between her teeth, allowing the muscle to slowly slide out of her grasp. A growl of appreciation rumbled from the assassin's chest as he returned to kissing her hungrily, slowly turning her body so that she eventually felt her back press gently against a bookcase. The kiss was so consuming that Lux barely registered one of Talon's hands drifting lower until it came to rest on her left buttcheek. The igniting hand gripped her firmly, using the leverage afforded to him by both his hold on her rear and around her ribcage to lift her up slightly, sitting her just barely on the ledge of a shelf.

A different rim pushed against her back, forcing her breasts to press against his chest, a movement that nearly made her sigh as she realized just how tender her nipples were beneath her silk shirt. But the assassin payed no mind to her torso, his lips instead moved from her mouth to her jawline, sucking on the flesh while his hand ran down her hamstring, hooking behind her knee and pulling her leg aside. The next movement he made caught Lux completely off-guard, as he pressed his hips into hers, shifting his manhood against her core in a way that forced a hiccup of a moan from Lux's lips. The hand that had been at his coat had somehow found its way to his deltoid, fingernails digging into the cloth as a wave of pleasure rushed over the mage.

Exhaling a sigh from the experience, Lux pressed a compelling kiss against the skin of his neck while her hands roamed along his shoulders and chest, appreciating his taut muscles despite the fabric in her way. Lux then felt a knuckle settle under her chin, turning her face towards his, and for the slightest of moments, the mage was able to appreciate the lustful gleam in Talon's eyes before he bent his head to kiss her. Once again his lips moved easily against her yielding mouth, the couple swept up in the desirous mist that seemed to surround them.

Despite the pressure of his lips against hers, the feel of his hands creeping underneath her shirt, barely tasting soft skin, and the sound of her own sharp intakes of breath in between kisses, Lux still heard the creaking of a door and the racket of voices. She halted the kissing for a moment, trying to concentrate on the noise from the lower level, but was not having an easy time as Talon continued to move his lips against her jaw, landing kiss after kiss on her silky flesh.

"She must be up above." Lux heard a familiar female voice say, but given the muddiness of her thoughts, she couldn't determine who.

Gently, Lux pushed on Talon's shoulders, urging him to stop his assault of her skin despite the wonderful feeling it generated.

"Someone's here." She whispered against his ear, and reluctantly, she could tell, the assassin pulled away, regarding her with a dangerously carnal look.

The pair listened to the sounds of footsteps on stairs, but remained unmoving, just staring at the other with glazed eyes and swollen lips, until the sound of shoes got too close to their location. At the last minute, Talon and Lux stepped apart from each other and turned their attentions to the newcomers.

"Hey Lux." Katarina smiled at the mage, then turned towards the assassin. "Talon! I didn't realize you had run into each other."

Garen was giving the man a notably callous glare. "I didn't know to two even knew each other."

"Oh I thought I told you. They met when Lux was undercover in Noxus some time ago. You know," Katarina smirked, turning towards the mage. "It took me a little while to recognize you in the League of Legends, but once I spectated a game between you and Talon I realized you were Lucy. You're very good at hiding in plain sight."

Lux felt herself blush, though she was probably already red from what had been happening moments earlier. "A trick of the trade, I suppose."  
"No kidding." The redhead replied. "Well, look, dessert's about to be served, and it would be a shame for you to miss it."

The mage laughed, following Katarina and her brother towards the library exit. Though she still felt weak in the knees from her previous interaction with Talon, and rather concerned about how messy her hair might be, all she could think about was the unsated desire still lingering within her, and, if the stare burning into her back was any indication, within a dangerously attractive assassin. But the moment that caused her to flush had passed and Lux was forced to return to the real world, where staring at Noxians with googly-eyes was something you just didn't do. Or, at least, shouldn't.

For the remainder of the evening, Lux had done a fairly decent job of avoiding the assassin, though she suspected her task had been too easy. It made sense to Lux that he evaded her too, as she guessed he had not intended on kissing her, much less some of the other things he did. But that made Lux wonder why he had returned her kiss in the first place.

Of course, as Lux lay awake in the guestroom, unable to fall asleep from pent up feelings of lust, continually reliving each moment of her encounter in the library, she was faced with accepting the fact that she had initiated the flash of passion. At first, the mage had tried to deny her instigation. He'd been the one to say such sentimental things like "I'm not going to kill you, Lux", which seemed very touching, considering his profession. But, the matter of the fact was it was she who had kissed him first, and so she was left with the very disturbing question of why.

Now Lux wasn't the kind of woman to deny her emotions until they grew so large they became impossible to control. No, she was a sensible mage, and she certainly knew she was lusting for Talon. Hell, she'd known that since she woke up with her face pressed into his bicep and her hand resting on his abs. There was no way a man as cut as he was couldn't turn her on. But Lux was normally in control of these sorts of feelings, and she was having a hard time believing it was only desire that had driven her to kiss the man.

So, sometime around two in the morning, Lux was forced to accept that, on some level, she had legitimate feelings for the man. Granted, there was only so far you could like an assassin, but she knew she felt enough for Talon to be touched by his words, at least enough to kiss him. In the past, realizing she had a crush on a guy had never done much to rattle the mage. For the most part, Lux had either determined herself too busy or too removed from the fella to actually do anything about her feelings, but the fact that she was having a hard time controlling herself was a dangerous sign.

Then there was the whole inquiry regarding how he felt about her. There lay a similar answer to the question she asked about herself. Obviously Talon was attracted to her, and likely wanted to do crude things to her, something Lux tried not to think about too much lest she be thrown into another fit of lust. But did he like her? The age old question that haunted young and old girls alike had, for the first time in a very long time, appeared to pay Lux a visit. Of course she could speculate and consider for hours on end, but ultimately, she'd learn the answer one way or another. There was no way their relationship could remain unresolved through a wedding and an entire trip to Shurima and, with any luck, back.


	8. Soulstealer

_Author's Note: Since finals have ended, I have been able to dedicate a fair amount of time to this particular chapter, making it the longest one in the fic at a crazy 7,397 words! That being said, I think Sub Rosa will be coming to an end within a chapter or two, which is exciting and sad at the same time. But hey! I'll start another fic soon enough! As soon as I get an idea who or what to write about..._

 _Anyways, I hope you enjoy the newest installment of Sub Rosa!_

Though Lux had been thoroughly embarrassed about her encounter with Talon in the library two days before the wedding, the uncontrolled emotions and heated kiss turned out to be the least of her humiliation. No, what bit at her the most was the fact that she had mindlessly left two very important books sitting on a simple wooden desk. Now, she'd be lucky if the books were even in the library at all, given Talon's trust issues. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, for the mage was continuously busy the day after with a trip to the train station to retrieve, more or less, twenty Demacians, predictably apprehensive about having a wedding in Noxus, a chaotic family brunch, and an irritatingly long rehearsal dinner. The only saving grace in the whole ordeal was that Lux had learned that she would, in fact, not be walking down the aisle with Talon, despite his groomsmen status. There was no doubt in her mind that she had Garen to thank for that, and not Katarina.

The wedding itself had been undeniably beautiful, centered in the Du Couteaus' gardens, the open space surrounded by dahlias, all during an early summer sunset, not a cloud in sight. Watching her brother declare his vows to the woman he intended to spend the rest of his life with, more bashful than she had ever suspected him to be possible of, Lux couldn't help but wonder when the same sort of romance would happen for her. So much of her life had been about the military, about espionage, that she hardly ever had time to think about what her wedding might be like, or what kind of man might await her at the end of the aisle.

But the sense of awe that encompassed Lux as she wondered favorably about her future soon passed, and she was drawn back into the real world. The ceremony had ended at around seven in the evening, just in time for the much anticipated reception. Many things concerned Lux about the event, conversing with Noxians and dealing with Ezreal were just two of the many. The real question lay in knowing where her seating would be and, more importantly, whom it would be with. So Lux approached the assignment table with Ezreal, rather nervously, each picking up their little card with the letters "Table Two" printed nicely in black ink.

"I wonder who will be at our table." Ezreal mused aloud, voicing Lux's concerns.

"I suppose we will see in due time." She said cryptically, a sinking feeling in her stomach told her she would not like the results.

The pair began to approach the table that was surprisingly empty. Ezreal and Lux sat next to each other at the round surface and immediately the mage began to read the other place cards. The first three she noticed bore unremarkable names such as "Cassiopeia", "Vladimir", and "Riven", only one of whom she was familiar with. The fourth, of course, bore Talon's name, but this was something she had been expecting, given the little she had heard from Garen about the seating arrangements.

Supposedly, Katarina had decided to have different seating than is typical with weddings, given the tensions between the two states and also Jarvan's appearance at the reception. Katarina and Garen sat with their parents at a small table upfront, and had proceeded to group people by affiliation from there. For the most part, the Demacians sat with Demacians and the Noxians sat with Noxians, but from the sounds of it, Garen and Katarina had wanted their closest friends and, of course, siblings at tables near them, which required some compromises. So, it was the case that Lux had been seated at the "siblings and dates" table, and as it would happen, she was also the only Demacian.

"Cassiopeia and Talon?" Ezreal said with no small amount of disdain as he read the titles on the nameplates. "Why didn't Garen sit us with Jarvan? His table is only Demacians. I don't understand."

"I think they wanted to sit the siblings with each other." She explained. "They know that we, at the very least, will behave ourselves."

"Well I know we will." The explorer stated confidently. "I can't say that for the Noxians."

"Careful what you say in this hall, Ezreal." A dark voice spoke from behind the pair. "It's full of misbehaving Noxians I'm sure have no qualms about dealing with Piltover pretty boys."

Lux could tell Ezreal's eyes had gone wide in shock and fear, but she cared little about that. Instead, she turned to face the aggravating assassin she had spent practically every moment of the last twenty-four hours thinking about. The one man who wouldn't leave her alone.

She looked up at him coldly, more than a little mad about how he made her feel, but all the while undeniably attracted to him in his clean tuxedo and ever-present stubble. It wasn't until Lux had given Talon the once over that she noticed the woman standing next to him, a white-haired beauty in a long, sleeveless green dress, eluding to a certain maturity that Lux, quite frankly, did not possess. Immediately she felt rather girlish in her lavender bridesmaid's gown, with three-quarter length sleeves and a tea-cut skirt. Even the bodice line was a cute heart-shaped one; it did very little to make her look like a seductress. It figured that the one time Katarina offered her clothing that was actually respectable, she'd wanted something more risqué.

"Well if you Noxians, as you say, 'deal with Piltover pretty boys', then you will only prove Ezreal's point." She glared icily up at the man. "We Demacians are better behaved."

But the assassin just chuckled, deeply and sexily, sending shivers down Lux's spine. Walking over to his seat, he responded. "I doubt that."

A flush burned on the mage's indignant cheeks as she watched Talon pull a chair out for the white haired woman to take her seat. He then took his own seat next to the woman and offered her a more than charming smile, to which she, a woman who seemed experienced with men like Talon, blushed. Lux hated her instantly.

"I'm afraid I missed your name." Ezreal smiled at Talon's date, relieving Lux from the pressure of giving a reply.

"Riven." The woman smiled kindly back at the explorer. "And you are?"

"Ezreal." He replied. "And this here is Lux. She's Garen's sister."

"A pleasure." Riven offered Lux the same smile she had just given Ezreal, and Lux, being the lady that she was, returned it.

"Likewise." Lux's smooth voice glided over the table, though it held just the smallest amounts of classic Demacian condescension. She had learned that tone very well throughout her childhood. But the white-haired woman seemed unphased.

"It must have been quite the shock." Riven remarked. "To find out your brother became engaged to Katarina, a Du Couteau."

"Actually," Lux began to correct her. "I wasn't too surprised. I had seen them at the Institute of War time enough to be suspicious. That and every infantryman in the military talked about how smitten Garen was."

"I can imagine." Riven commented. "She is quite the captivating woman."

"The red hair, I think, is very stunning." Lux replied, for a moment forgetting her crusade to shun her.

"Every guy in the League was after Garen's blood once the engagement was announced." Ezreal laughed.

"He held his own." Lux smirked, having heard similar versions of that story. Garen had done Demacia proud.

"I heard your brother will be moving to Noxus after this?" Riven asked, clearly curious about the situation.

"It's true. Katarina is head of household, so it would be a touch irresponsible for her to move to Demacia." Lux explained. "Besides, Garen's a big boy. He can handle himself, even in Noxus."

"You don't seem that concerned." Riven chuckled.

"Not particularly." Lux shrugged. She wished the woman would just stop talking to her and let her go back to brooding. Hating her was becoming more and more difficult as she proved herself to be a sociable person. "Noxus isn't that scary a place once you get to know it."

"You've spent a lot of time in the capital?" Riven inquired, keeping Lux engaged in conversation.

"Lux used to be a spy." Ezreal laughed. "One of the best."

"Oh, but not anymore? What made you quit?" She continued with the questions.

But there was one she hadn't answered in a long time. Of course, most Demacians never really asked why; after all, it was a dangerous job and retiring from such a perilous career is never surprising.

"I went on a mission that basically revealed my identity to certain people whom I needed to be unaware of my existence." Lux explained briefly, neglecting certain pieces of information.

"Swain was on to her." Ezreal clarified. "And with such a high profile man like that suspecting of her espionage, it becomes increasingly dangerous to travel to Noxus and get the sort of information she was looking for."

"Did he ever find out?" Riven was an inquisitive one, that was for sure.

"Yes." It was Talon who answered. Riven turned to him with a surprised look, curious as to why he could answer that question. "I told him."

"How did _you_ know?" She was hooked now. The white haired woman was uncovering a very interesting story, one that Lux had tried to keep secret for nearly three years.

"How _did_ he know?" Ezreal turned on Lux, accusation in his eyes. She hadn't told him all of the details.

"Now that is a long story." The assassin smirked, leaving an air of mystery around a situation, and Lux knew she was in for a whirlwind of questions later.

But before Lux got the chance to tell Riven and Ezreal that it had just been, more or less, a simple case of Twisted Fate recognizing her, she was interrupted by two more incoming people.

"Hey Talon, Riven." A sleek voice said from behind the mage. Lux turned her face to recognize Cassiopeia. Next to her walked a classy looking man, with relatively long strawberry blonde hair, whom she vaguely recognized to be Vladimir, another champion in the League of Legends.

Cassiopeia and Vladimir took their respective seats and immediately the conversation shifted away from Lux's espionage.

"Long time no see, Cass." Riven smiled at the snake lady. "And Vlad, always good to see you're in good… health."

"Oh don't give me that look, Riven." He shot her a smirk Lux guessed was meant to be charming, but wasn't quite.

"Sorry but I'll never get used to your profession. If you can call it that." She shrugged.

"Profession, perhaps not." Vladimir admitted. "But it is an art. Few appreciate the full beauty in hemomancy."

"Don't start on this again, Vlad." Cass shook her head as she readied for a long tirade.

But he did, and went on for quite some time until Katarina and Garen finally arrived in the ballroom and dinner was served. For the most part, dinner was relatively peaceful, Lux chatted almost entirely with Ezreal, an exception or two being when Cassiopeia mentioned the bridesmaids sleepover or her talent with cards. Talon had raised a very curious eyebrow at that, but the moment soon passed and Lux returned to conversing with the explorer. Lux had noted that the assassin had not been particularly vocal in his side of the conversation, but something told the mage that was due to his generally elusive nature. She did develop some pity for Riven, though, for being saddled with such a quiet man. Or rather, she told herself she'd hate to be his date. Whether or not she believed it was a different case.

Eventually, the dinner was finished, and as is tradition with weddings, a dance soon followed. The first dance, between Garen and Katarina, had been particularly romantic, and for the first time since Lux could remember, she was actually jealous of her brother. But that dance soon ended and then Garen danced with his mother and Katarina twirled with Talon, in lieu of their father. The mage was decently surprised to find that Talon was a capable dancer, and actually, by most standards, fairly talented. It was not something she would have expected from the assassin, but then she remembered a certain amount of dexterity that came with the job.

Once those two waltzes had completed, the floor was open and Ezreal seized the moment.

"Care to dance?" He looked at her with a striking amount of sincerity, and immediately, Lux began to blush, but not because she was flattered. No, she was embarrassed.

"Sure." She replied carefully, accepting his hand gracefully and following him out onto the dance floor.

His other hand found itself at her waist while hers rested gently on his shoulder. Lux still kept a respectable six inches between their chests, demonstrating exactly how not intimate the dance would be. Ezreal either didn't notice or was too shy to close the gap, but regardless, the duo danced properly, just like the teachers in Demacia had instructed. A string quartet coupled with a piano played gentle music in the background, vaguely happy in nature, but altogether very boring and fitting of a waltz. In her time twirling around the ballroom, Lux tried to determine if Talon was out there too, dancing with his white-haired beauty, but Ezreal interrupted before her search could get very far.

"How did Talon find out you were an undercover spy?" He cut right to the chase. Clearly that had been bothering him since the assassin had mentioned it.

"Twisted Fate gave me away." She replied simply. Hopefully she could get away without revealing too many details.

"You told me that you escaped on your own. That you had found an opening." His brow furrowed. "Why did you lie?"

She sighed. Now that was a question that was particularly hard to answer without revealing too much of the truth. And, in all honesty, she didn't know why she had. A better lie would have been to say that Twisted Fate had recognized her and given her away and that there had been no kissing involved, but, for whatever reason, Lux had not told that lie when she met up with Ezreal. Instead, she'd tried to deny the encounter had happened at all.

"I was ashamed, I suppose." She replied honestly, though perhaps leaving Ezreal with the wrong interpretation.

"That Twisted Fate recognized you?" He questioned. "Something like that happening is incredibly rare. Besides, everyone makes mistakes."

"Not Crownguards." She replied.

Ezreal sighed at her statement. She knew how he felt about Demacia's fire and brimstone methods, but Demacians just didn't have the same luxury as Piltoverans. No offense to the Piltover, but Demacia had bigger things to worry about than a one-hundred pound girl bombing things. That and, were she in Demacia, she'd be in jail already.

The pleasant, nondescript waltz soon ended, but as the next tune began to take form, Ezreal held on for another round. The next piece seemed to be, from what Lux could tell, a sarabande, and a minor toned one at that. It was slow and pensive, and after a few measures of silence between the pair, Ezreal found his voice.

"I don't like the way that Noxian looks at you." He admitted.

"Which Noxian? There are so many these days." She sighed, gazing out at a room full of them.

"Which do you think, Lux?" The explorer's irritated tone told Lux there might be strong emotions driving his statements.

"Talon doesn't mean me any harm." She said with a surprising amount of confidence. "Why does everyone think that?"

"Because he's an assassin. A Noxian one." He said simply.

"What, and he's going to take advantage of me, helpless little Luxanna Crownguard? That's bullshit." She was getting annoyed.

"Is it?" He had the gall to question her. "I've seen you on the rift with him."

"The rift is nothing." She said forcefully, in order to defend her strength, but perhaps leaving Ezreal a little more curious than she would have liked.

But the explorer turned out to be wise, for the first time that night, and did not push his luck. Instead the pair went back to dancing quietly, until, at the end of the second song, Lux watched a large hand come to rest on Ezreal's shoulder.

"Do you mind if I have the next one?" Talon stared down at the explorer with dark eyes that mirrored the emotion in the new tune being played by the quintet, his expression intimidating and almost laughing, as if he expected Ezreal to flee in terror.

But he held his ground, a frown forming on the explorers face. For a moment, Lux was concerned that Ezreal would deny Talon, but then he stepped aside and allowed the assassin to take his position.

When Talon's hand met her waist, Lux could notice a distinct difference in the touch. It was not just that the assassin had a manlier hand, large and lean. Rather, his touch contained a certain sort of energy, almost like electricity, that shocked through her as his fingertips grazed against her back, something she most certainly did not feel around the explorer. And as her hand came to rest on one of his broad shoulders, and her eyes fluttered upwards to cautiously meet his, Lux knew that her attraction to this man was one of the few things in the world she could not hide.

The waltz continued with its eerie theme, nearly macabre in nature, though a hint of humor played in the high strings despite the dark motif resonating in the piano. Once Ezreal had left earshot, leaving Lux alone with the curious assassin, Talon spoke.

"You didn't look too happy dancing with him." He remarked, a calm expression painted on his face as he gazed down on the mage.

"So you're doing me a favor?" She raised an eyebrow at his implications.

"You'll have to answer that one yourself." He replied with a slight smirk. "But if I had to guess, I'd say so."

"Then this is a first. Talon Du Couteau, doing a Demacian a favor." Lux mocked as she twirled in accordance with the music, undeniably graceful.

"Anything for my dearest sister-in-law." His smirk transformed into a downright devious smile.

"I'd prefer not to think of us as siblings." She admitted with a slight hint of disgust.

"No I suppose you don't kiss your brother quite like you kiss me." He taunted.

Lux flushed a bright red, only half in anger. "Now here I'd make a comment about you being promiscuous with your sister, but I know she's too in love with Garen to fall victim to your debauchery."

"Debauchery?" He raised a laughing eyebrow. "I'll have you know I'm quite the gentleman when it comes to romance. I don't kiss just anyone."

The blush was reaching her ears by that point in the conversation.

"Gentleman?" She questioned almost too loudly, but then dropped her voice low. As her next words crossed her lips she knew it wasn't the proper thing to say, but the sentence tumbled out nonetheless. "What you did in the library wasn't very gentlemanly."

"It couldn't be helped." He shrugged lightly. "I was being seduced."

"Seduced?" Lux couldn't believe this man. "You weren't being seduced!"

"Oh so tugging on my jacket and brushing your lips against mine _doesn't_ count as seduction?" He had a fair point.

For a moment, Lux just danced with him, moving along to the spooky waltz, trying to figure out a decent explanation for the behavior. However, she found none.

A triumphant look soon twinkled in the assassin's eyes as he realized he'd won the debate. The couple continued to dance as the assassin drank in his moment of glory, but Lux took that moment to catch her breath, perhaps cool her head.

"Are you packed for Shurima?" He started.

"Yes," She replied easily. "Ezreal took me shopping four days ago. Got stocked up and everything. He even taught me how to navigate in case you get us lost."

"I won't get us lost." He said confidently. "I bet he gave you a hard time about travelling with me. Quite frankly, I'm surprised he's helping you at all."

"He doesn't know." Lux conceded sheepishly.

"A wise decision, I think."  
"I'd prefer not to lie to him, but it was hard enough to get Jarvan to agree. Ezreal would be far worse."

"Well, I won't tell him, for what it's worth." Talon chuckled lightly.

"He'd probably run with his tail between his legs before you could even approach him." She laughed. "I don't understand why he's so scared of you."

"Maybe because he realizes how dangerous I am." And as Talon's dark eyes gazed down into her light blue ones, Lux began to wonder if perhaps she had bit out more than she could chew. But her pondering soon stopped as the song came to an end and the assassin gently released her, leaving to return to his own party of Noxians.

Dazed, Lux found her way to a group of Demacians, including Ezreal and Jarvan, both of whom initially gave her a hard time about dancing with the Noxian, but eventually, with the help of a woman named Quinn, the conversation shifted away from her relationship with Talon and towards politics, ever a popular topic amongst Demacians. They talked and debated for hours on end, and Lux was presented with the occasional dance until the hour grew late and Katarina and Garen eventually said their goodbyes to everyone, effectively ending the reception. Lux found herself wandering back to the guest room in the Du Couteau residence, awfully tired and ready for some well-deserved rest.

* * *

The next morning Lux woke to another flurry of chores, such as another brunch, another trip to the train station, and another obligatory dinner. Brunch had not been so difficult, for all of the issues she had with Noxians, she could at least say they had good taste in food. The train station had been troublesome, Lux's grandmother in particular had tried to convince her to come back to Demacia with them right then, but her mother and father had deemed it too rude to bow out of the situation so early and without any prior notice. Then there was the whole ordeal of getting Jarvan and his army of soldiers in the train car. After two hours of loading friends and family onto multiple trains and sending them back to the homeland, Lux finally retired to the Du Couteau estate.

Of course, after that, she had been engaged in a variety of activities with Katarina's relatives, which was, not surprisingly followed by dinner. After dinner, free time began to pop its head in for Lux, and while she had taken an hour to herself to sit and read a book she had been working on before the hectic trip, a little novella named "Luck be a Lady", eventually she found herself plotting once more, setting her life back into commotion.

In all of the chaos of the wedding day and day before, Lux had not had anytime to search for the books she had discovered in the library two days earlier. It only took a short searching spell, a particularly useful one if you happen to know what it is you seek, to determine that the texts she sought were somewhere in what she recalled to be Talon's room, sitting on a bookshelf, if she had to guess. Of course, retrieving the items would be much more difficult, and for this, Lux had several courses of action.

The first, and by far most dangerous, would be to wait until two or three in the morning, pick Talon's lock, and steal the books while hoping the assassin remained asleep. For obvious reasons, this plan was not a very good one, because neither was Lux sneaky enough to be silent as to not wake the sleeping assassin, nor was Talon oblivious enough not to wake from a mage sneaking into his room. Then there was the question of what he would do when he caught her, and as much as Lux might have liked to think about that scenario, there was no way she'd be getting the books from that encounter.

The foil to that plan was to sneak into his room when she knew he would not be there. Of course, given the fact that she was leaving the following day, that left little time to keep an eye on Talon and know when he would be absent from the room, but ultimately Luc decided it was worth a try. So she waltzed back down to the common room, dressed in the same sundress with adorable butterfly sleeves she had been wearing earlier that day, ready to keep an eye out for the assassin. As she entered the room and immediately struck up conversation with her mother and Katarina's aunt, Lux was dismayed to find that Talon was not present.

"And where have you been, Lux?" Her mother asked, almost accusingly.

"Oh I was just reading some." She replied sheepishly.

Katarina's aunt, Ophelia, if Lux remembered correctly, responded warmly to the mage. "Books are always so captivating, are they not?"

"Indeed." Lux smiled back appreciatively.

"That doesn't mean you should be reading at such important times as these." Lux's mother continued to lecture her. She went on for a little longer, but Lux heard none of it for all sound seemed to vanish as she watched a particularly notorious man walk into the common room and start conversing with some Noxian relatives.

"If you'll excuse me." Lux said hastily to the ladies, and while she was sure her mother was berating her as she left, she had a job to do, and no one was going to stop her. Nagging mother aside, the mage slipped out of the room relatively quietly and unnoticed, but, as is typical with the assassin, she could feel his eyes following her as she opened the door and entered the hallway. He missed nothing.

Immediately, Lux knew she was working on a time sensitive schedule. While she considered her plan fairly impromptu and not easily predicted, she knew Talon was a suspicious one, and it was in her best interest to consider him already knowledgeable of her scheme. She had, at best, five minutes to find his room, pick the lock, retrieve the books, and get out, lest she be cornered by a very curious assassin.

Walking briskly down the hall, Lux tried to recall the location of his room, and her memory did not fail her. Within two minutes, she found the door, and started on picking the lock. But, unfortunately for the mage, it had been a very long time since she had done that sort of thing. She muddled with the lock for the better part of three minutes, and she knew her time was running out. As the door handle became turnable, Lux took one last look down the hall to make sure he hadn't caught up to her yet. By the looks of it, she was safe.

So the mage entered his room briskly, hastily shutting the door behind her, walking towards a bookcase she spotted on the north wall. However, she didn't get two steps in the door before she noticed a presence at the desk, and a deep voice rang out in the cool air.

"Well this isn't very ladylike of you, Crownguard." Talon chuckled as he regarded her smoothly from his desk chair.

Her head whipped to face the assassin, mouth wide in disbelief. "How did you…?"

Even though her question remained unfinished, Talon seemed to understand what she was asking.

"Seriously Lux?" He smirked. "This is my house, I know all of its secrets, passageways included. You might have beaten me, though, if you weren't such a bad lock picker."

The mage flushed red in anger. "How did you know I was coming here?"

"Well I knew you'd be after the books soon enough, and given your ingenuity, I figured you would realize they had been relocated to my room." He explained. "I have actually been expecting you for two days now, but once I saw you leave the common room so hastily, I knew you were headed here."

Frowning, Lux said the only thing that came to her mind. "Shit."

Then, in one last effort to save herself from what she suspected would develop into a precarious situation, Lux reached for the door handle. But the assassin was on her before she even got the chance to turn the knob. One of his palms was planted on the left side of her face, effectively pinning her against the door. The other had made its way down her her wrist, wrenching it away from the handle and bringing it up to shoulder level.

"Lux." He said almost scoldingly, his dark gaze burning into her eyes. "Your shenanigans aren't working."

"Maybe they are but you just don't realize it." She shot back, hoping to unbalance him.

But the assassin remained cool as ever.

"I doubt that." Talon regarded her coolly, as if he liked watching her squirm.

"You could just let me leave." Lux offered, knowing there was little chance he'd accept it. "I won't be able to steal the books then."

"Hmm…" He pondered the suggestion, his eyes moving from hers down to her wrist, regarding the flesh almost like food, and for a second, as he brought her hand towards his lips, Lux thought he might bite her. Instead, he placed a firm kiss against her pulse, beguiling eyes flashing back to hers, sending a shock of anticipation shooting through her gut.

"You're seducing me." The mage spoke plainly, realization dawning on her.

"You snuck into my room." He reasoned, lips moving against her skin as he kissed her palm.

"I only came to steal the books!" She retorted, hoping to dispel the misconception, if it truly was one, that the assassin seemed to have. But she knew that with Talon kissing her hand like he was, with his dark eyes piercing hers, there was little chance she'd be able to turn and leave him.

Her declaration drove all hints of playfulness out of his laughing eyes and flirtatious expression. His stare turned awfully dark, almost ominous, a certain intensity glinting in his hard eyes. He watched her carefully, examining her expression, which must have seemed rather stunned, as if trying to discern which of words she had spoken, if any, had been true.

The two stood there for what felt like decades to the mage, the assassin trying to read her cryptic countenance, and the mage trying to determine what he was trying to accomplish by staring at her so fiercely. Slightly intimidated, Lux shifted a little bit against the door, trying to gently work her hand out of his grasp, but he did not let go. Instead, he stepped the tiniest amounts forward, keeping the silence but not breaking eye contact. Lux watched in anticipation, waiting for Talon to make his move, whatever it might be.

With a husky voice, the assassin finally spoke. "Kiss me."

She didn't have to be told twice. Lux wrapped her arms around the assassin's neck, dutifully pressing her lips against his. Talon pulled her close, molding her body to his in a manner that evoked a small whimper from the mage. The hand that had been holding her wrist instead fell to her waist, his thumb running over her ribs. She sighed against his lips, caught up in the feeling of kissing a man she had been dreaming about for the better part of forty-eight hours, and as her lips parted slightly, Talon took that opening to catch her bottom lip in his mouth, repeating a knee-weakening trick he had played on her years ago. His upper teeth grazed lazily over her lip, sending shivers through the blonde's spine, and as her fantasies became a reality, Lux found her nails digging into his muscled back.

"Wait, Talon..." Lux breathed, despite herself, as she began to remember exactly who she was kissing.

But the assassin made no motion to stop. Lux considered pushing him away, but then a hand slithered up her hamstring, settled on her rear, and lifted to press her hips against his. All opposition was lost as Talon flattened her back against the door and shifted against her womanhood in a way that sent a rush of pleasure through her abdomen. Talon caught her breathy moan in a heated kiss while Lux, succumbing to a rush of lust, ran her hands down his toned chest and began to unbutton his shirt. His hands pushed the sleeves of her dress away, uncovering her bare shoulders to the cold air. Brushing her hair away, the assassin exposed her neck, leaning in to suck on her sweet flesh. Lux writhed under his touch, nipples hard and thoughts muddied as he began to kiss down her neck, all the while peeling the dress away from her.

Deftly, he unhooked her bra, removing the final barrier before planting a cool kiss on an exposed nipple. Lux breathed a strained moan, twining a hand in his hair as she processed the jolt of pleasure shooting through her body. A teasing tongue flicked against the tip of her breast and Lux felt her breath hitch in her throat, captivated by the sensation, but needing more than just the tap of a tongue. Squirming beneath his touch, Lux found herself grinding against his groin, attempting to release some of the pent up anticipation that was only building within her. But the assassin soon put a stop to that, gripping her hip firmly and holding her as still as he could.

"Careful." He breathed huskily, almost as if he was having difficulty controlling his own desire.

He moved back to her lips, capturing them once again in a hungry kiss, while his knuckle came to brush over the top of a wet nipple. Grabbing his hand forcefully, Lux pressed his palm into her breast, as if to tell him to forget the teasing and just touch her. The assassin seemed to have no qualms about molding her flesh to his touch, working her soft skin in his hand, on occasion gently pinching a nipple and playing with it in a manner that made Lux forget about the rest of the world, if she hadn't already.

Conjuring all the wherewithal she could find, Lux released her hold on the assassin's hair and relocated her attention to his belt buckle. She unbuckled and unzipped his trousers easily, and effortlessly slipped a hand in his pants. With a delicate stroke of his manhood, Lux felt the assassin release a shaky breath and press his forehead into the crook of her neck. Repeating the motion twice, she heard the smallest of grunts escape Talon's lips, and she intended to unravel the assassin as much as he was unwrapping her, but he stopped her before she could go too far.

Strong hands wrapped around her wrists, pulling them above her head and pinning them to the door, securely fixed to the surface by only one of his own hands. With his free hand, Talon slipped beneath the line of her panties and teasingly brushed his forefinger against her clitoris. Lux bucked her hips against the assassin's finger, yearning for more pressure. But none was given. The assassin's hand shifted, thumb replacing the forefinger, but no less teasing in its assault of her nerves. The mage let loose a frustrated cry as the assassin's middle finger began to ghost along her slit, tormenting her and offering no method of release.

He continued to tickle and toy, nearly driving Lux insane. Her back arched off the wall as she ached to come in contact with his flesh. The tops of her breasts brushed against his muscled chest, once again igniting lust within the mage. A deep chuckle sailed past Lux's ears, heightening her frustration as she realized exactly how much enjoyment the assassin was receiving.

"Talon," She breathed. "Please."

Lux watched a dark smirk play on the assassin's lips as he slipped a finger inside. The mage released a cry of satisfaction, and barely managed to register Talon's following words.

"You have no idea what it does to me to hear you moan at my touch," He ground out huskily as he slipped in yet another finger and began to stimulate the mage.

"To feel you beg for me," He continued, quickening his fingers. With eyes shut tight and eyebrows pulled together, Lux gasped for air as he played with her, feeling the oncoming rush of an orgasm.

"To watch you come." Talon finished as she felt the surrender of her senses, overcome with only the intense feeling of pleasure.

The assassin captured her post-orgasm breaths in a steamy kiss, all the while Lux tried to regain her sense of mind. Clarity came back to the mage and she felt a momentary pause while she realized what had happened to her and who had caused it. As that realization dawned, Lux knew she was faced with the decision of either continuing down the path which she was headed, or denying the assassin altogether. She knew which was the more responsible decision, which was more proper, but, as the assassin moved against her lips, hungry and passionate, Lux knew she was too far gone to ever deny him.

Talon, for his part, wasted no time, releasing her hands and sliding off her underwear. Lux offered the assassin the same favor, until the two were standing stark naked, panting in heat for the other. He gripped her rear again, lifting her hips and allowing Lux to wrap her silky legs around his waist. Slowly, the mage guided his length into her, feeling his fingers pinch her flesh as he experienced the wave of pleasure. Lux rocked slowly against Talon, breathing heavy sighs in his ear, full of need for the assassin. She held tight against him as he moved from the door over to the plush bed, gently laying her back down against the sheets.

From there he continued to thrust harder and faster into the mage, seeking his own release. Pulling on his neck, Lux directed his mouth towards hers, trying to enjoy the feel of his lips while he moved within her, but soon the tension became too high, the pace too fast, and the blonde could only lie there, close her eyes, and feel the bliss coursing through her.

"I'm… close…" She somehow managed to squeak out as the tension continued to build.

Talon grunted as his pace quickened until it eventually became erratic. A sensation of pleasure crested in Lux for the second time that night and, not too long after, she felt her partner find a release of his own.

All that the couple could do in the moments following the orgasm was breathe. Lux stared up at the assassin with glazed eyes and what she was sure were incredibly red cheeks. Talon gazed down at her almost tenderly, but still decidedly intensely. After a moment of staring, the assassin grabbed a hold of her waist and moved her over on the bed, shifting her head near a pillow, before laying down on the mattress himself. Turning to face the man, Lux watched him as he stared at the ceiling, chest still heaving as he tried to regain his breath. Once a few more moments of silence had passed, Talon finally spoke.

"Fuck." He exhaled slowly, echoing Lux's sentiments entirely.

Shifting closer to the assassin, Lux carefully placed her head on the area between his shoulder and his pectoral. She let a soft hand place itself on his stomach, running over his abdominal muscles with her forefinger. Soon enough, she caught her breath, and the thoughts began to rush back to her.

The first thought was that she certainly couldn't sleep in Talon's room. She might oversleep and then there was a high probability someone might catch her if she didn't leave early enough. But Lux was an early riser, so perhaps she'd be able to make it back to her room before anyone noticed. That was, of course, if nobody noticed that night. There were still people down below, and while she had excused herself from the conversation, she hadn't properly said goodnight, and her mother tended to be fairly strict about those sorts of things. But maybe she could get away with it. A thumb ghosting along the skin of her back was doing little to help her depart. And the longer his digit pressed soothingly against her tense muscles, the less she felt like leaving.

"I should probably go back to my room." She sighed, staring at his bare chest. "The only problem is, I don't want to."

"Then don't." He replied calmly and easily, as if the decision was so obvious.

"I'll need to be in my bed before the household starts to get up." She reasoned, as if trying to explain her predicament, but Talon only grunted, effectively dismissing her argument.

In the end, Lux never did find the will in herself or the energy in her body to lift herself up and walk back to the guest room. Instead, she drifted off quietly into a sweet sleep, snuggled right next a Noxian assassin, a man she was sure had been trying to kill her for the better part of two years, Talon Du Couteau.

* * *

Fortunately for the mage, Lux woke early the following morning as the first rays of light streamed into Talon's room. Her eyes fluttered open, and it took Lux a moment to fully digest where she was and why she was there, naked, no less. But eventually understanding dawned on the mage and she sat up gently, careful not to wake the assassin. She gingerly got out of bed and began to dress herself, fully intending to return to her room and sleep the rest of the morning until her mother forced her awake and ready to leave for Demacia.

But as she pulled on her sundress, something stirred in the back of the mage's mind. The books. Glancing to the bookcase, she saw them sitting there plainly, nondescript, as if they might be just like all the other texts on that shelf. Immediately, she searched for Parfuin Gúl as well, but as was expected, that text had been hidden a little more secretively. She turned back to the two books she had spotted in the library and began to debate what to do with them.

While the scholar in Lux told her to grab the books and leave, there was some hesitation within the mage. Talon. She had slept with him. It was bad enough she was leaving before he awoke, but to steal the books as well? That was a certain guilt she'd rather not have. Of course, the other alternative was to just leave them be, but Lux could not agree to that either. Ultimately, she decided to take the books, but not before finding a pen and piece of paper to leave the assassin a note where the texts had been, stating simply, "I didn't do it for the books."

And so the mage left easily and without opposition, returning to her room with two invaluable sources of information. Instead of sleeping, like she had intended to, Lux immediately started to read, consumed by the knowledge finally available to her. The book titled _Absolution_ revealed itself to be a confusing and thick read, especially without the definition of a fëa. So, Lux turned to the newer text titled _The Intricacies of Ancient Shuriman_ and easily found the entry for the word which she sought. While the description could not have been more than a paragraph long, its effect on the mage was profound. She had finally discovered exactly what a fëa was, and safe to say she was chilled to the bone with the information she had gained. The fëa was indeed some sort of essence, almost a representation of life, an intangible thing with incredible weight. It was a soul.

 _Author's Note: By the way, if you thought you spotted references to the tunes "Danse Macabre" and "Luck Be a Lady", you were right! ;)_


	9. Tactical Decision

_Quick Pre-Note: Ok so last night I tried to combine to earlier chapters and that ended up shifting some reviews to chapters they didn't belong to and generally just making things messier, so I'm reposting this as chapter 9 and returning things to the way they were... Sorry for the confusion guys! First time posting on fanfiction, so I'm learning this posting thing as I go. ;)_

 _Author's Note: Hi guys! I re-updated this chapter because there were a couple of conversation things I wasn't very happy with. Don't worry, the plot hasn't changed, and really not much dialogue changed either. Really minor changes mostly dealing with feelings and character interaction. Nevertheless, it is there._

 _Also, I'd like to tell you this is going to be finished soon, but I feel obligated to level with you guys. I'm going through an unexpectedly busy/stressful time right now, and I am not able to dedicate as much time to Sub Rosa as I had been able to before. I thought I could hammer out the last couple chapters (including this one, which I thought kind of fell flat compared to the others), but that mentality is not helping me write good fiction. So, unfortunately, it might be some time before I can really return to Sub Rosa and finish it with the effort it deserves. Don't worry, I don't think it'll be left alone for any crazy amount of time like a year (even half a year seems too long), but I just wanted to give you a heads up that I would be able to do my week and a half updates I'd been doing. Thanks for understanding! :)_

* * *

It was amazing to Lux how, even after reading all that one could wish to know about what a fëa was and the particular sort of magic that went alongside binding it to a sword, she could still have more questions. The mage had spent nearly five hours, from six until ten in the morning, muddling through Absolution, when eventually her mother poked her head in the room and told her it was time to leave for Demacia. Lux and her family left the Du Couteau residence relatively quickly, keeping Lux from spending an undue amount of time with an assassin she was sure wasn't happy with her, and allowing her to get on a train to spend more time on her newest obsession.

What Lux had found was particularly disturbing. Now, she had expected some of this. With the earlier knowledge of Darkin influence, and even her own experience with binding spells, she knew the blade Talon intended to craft would be a cruel one by nature. She just hadn't been expecting a sword of absolution. Upon using the dictionary to dissect the name of the sword Talon hoped to forge, Faercrist, composed of the words "faer" meaning spirit and "crist" meaning cleaver, Lux fully began to internalize what it was Talon was hoping to accomplish.

At first, when opening Absolution, she had been rather surprised to find so much talk of souls. In her own experience, Lux had come to know the word to mean "a release from guilt" or "forgiveness of sins", not "the act of ripping someone's soul from their body". But, she supposed, in some way, ripping the soul from someone's body was a sort of release from guilt. As she continued to read, she found the book talked a rather lot about how one would go about stealing souls and the kind of consequences that came with the territory, and while most of it seemed like a manual on particularly dark magic, there was a section about creating weapons to have similar effects.

The theory behind creating such a sword as Faercrist was that one would imbue a soul within a weapon and then, upon using the weapon to strike a foe, the imbued soul would be powerful enough to attack the enemy's soul, effectively ripping it from their body. For the most part, it sounded like the sword's greatest achievement would be to kill people, rather similar to how normal ones worked, but altogether much more swiftly. A simple cut with Faercrist on a weak-willed person might bring death instantly. Of course, there were some serious catches with the weapon.

As far as Lux could tell, the effectiveness of the sword had a great deal to do with the wielders affinity with the imbued soul. For example, if one was to bind the soul of a stranger to the weapon, it's soul ripping capabilities would be limited to working on already disheartened people or people who had suffered a great blow from the weapon, in which case they'd die anyways. However, if one was to say, bind their own soul to the sword, the power of the weapon would be unmatched, easily cutting down the most fearsome of foes.

And that was were the reading got particularly disturbing. Binding a soul to the sword doesn't kill a person. If anything, it makes them slightly harder to kill, for one would have to destroy both the sword and the body in order to truly rid the world of a person. But there was a certain sort of corruption that came along with not only binding your own soul to a physical item, but using it to wrench the souls of others away. Horrid stories in the book talked of men growing increasingly bloodthirsty and insane from just one use of the sword, eventually leading them to kill even their own families, until they were rightly dealt with. In some cases, the person's body would be destroyed, but not the sword, and as such, the soul would live on within the weapon, haunting the next person to pick it up.

Therein lay another point of dark magic. A certain link formed between the wielder and the weapon, and it seemed to be that in time, even if the sword was never used, the wielder would grow to gain the soul's attributes, and given how easily corrupted the soul within the sword was, that hardly seemed to be a good thing. In fact, none of the information Lux had gained was a "good thing". More and more, Lux began to wonder if she would be travelling to Shurima at all, given how not on board she was with forging a sword like Faercrist.

But a very strong part of her wondered why Talon felt the need to forge such a weapon. It was true, he was an assassin, he killed people, yes this was something Lux had accepted in her time knowing the man. It was just that he didn't seem very bloodthirsty. He didn't seem like the type of person to sacrifice all of this, his soul, his sanity, just for a weapon. Sure, the man was a little flawed, but power hungry seemed just too out-of-character, which conjured the question why Faercrist?

Then, of course, regardless of his reasons for wanting to have the sword, whose soul was he intending to use? And how did he expect to have Lux bind a soul to a sword without her knowing? All of this left unanswered, and she was supposed to meet Talon at the Institute train station the following day, ready to leave for Shurima. Ultimately, Lux decided to proceed with the plan she and Talon had already decided on. Of course, there was no way she'd be binding any sort of soul to a sword, but, perhaps in her travels with Talon, she could get a few of her questions answered. That, and, she was not going to let him keep the Book of Sorcery.

Lux arrived the following day at platform four, only with a large backpack, one medium sized duffel, and one small duffel, the smaller one of which she was supposed to dump, by order of Ezreal, once she got to the desert. She approached a waiting Talon, dressed in his assassin gear, something she had not had the pleasure of seeing in a considerable amount of time. He wore his usual hood and cloak, coupled with accents of protective metal gear and a blue skin-tight bodysuit. As much as Lux hated to admit it, his rough and tumble ensemble entirely suited her fancy.

Talon's expression was the same fierce one she had grown accustomed to in her time knowing the man. As she drew near to the assassin, Lux swore she saw a small flicker of anger flash across his face, but his facial muscles soon returned to their resting state. She wondered what it would be like to face him again, especially after their last encounter. She wondered if he'd be enraged, if he'd be moody, if he would even talk to her, but most of all, she wondered if he still held feelings for her.

"I hope you enjoyed your reading." His cold voice rang out as she set down her belongings next to him, waiting for the train to arrive. Clearly, he was not happy about what she had done.

"Did you get my note?" She asked, hoping at least he'd known her intentions had not been that dubious.

"I didn't do it for the books." He repeated, articulating every word precisely, as if her statement was something to be ashamed of.

"Don't act so hurt, Talon." She scolded. "You knew why I was there. And still you left them unattended."

"Yeah, like I was going to stop fucking you just to hide away a couple of lousy books." He ground out angrily.

Initially, Lux was caught off guard by his vulgar phrasing, but, as the tense pause continued, Lux began to understand the assassin's feelings.

"Are you mad I stole them, or are you mad I slept with you first?" She asked coolly, glaring back at the assassin.

He said nothing, leaving Lux to infer.

"I told you I didn't sleep with you to get the books." She repeated, hoping she could get her point across.

But the furrowed brow and lips pressed into a thin line told Lux that her statement had done little to calm the man. One of his quotes from an earlier library encounter slipped back into her mind.

"You still don't trust me." She said, realization dawning on her.

"Should I?" Talon raised an eyebrow, knowing he was obviously correct in his skepticism regarding the mage. And, given all of the tricks she had played on the man, Lux supposed he shouldn't. Then again, Lux didn't trust him either. But she did like him.

"Can't we at least be civil about this?" She asked as the train pulled loudly into the station.

"Since when have we ever been civil?" He shot her one last fierce glare as the train doors creaked open, and immediately the assassin boarded, leaving Lux without a word.

Trailing behind, Lux struggled to keep up with the brooding assassin, and quite honestly, she was rather pissed herself. She knew she had hurt him, his ego was probably bruised, but that didn't mean he had to act like an immature little twit. If he'd only say "I like you Lux, please don't betray me again" or something of the sort, she'd fall willingly into his arms like a love-stricken teenager. But as she sat herself in the seat across from Talon in their compartment, the assassin still sulky in his demeanor, Lux knew that scenario was not going to present itself.

The two sat in silence for the better part of the day despite all the questions lingering. And Lux wasn't the only one with questions, she was sure. Talon would have to be pretty oblivious not to wonder why she was still helping him on his sword forging mission after she had read what she had in Absolution. Even Lux wondered why, but, to her way of thinking, she'd never let them get even remotely close to creating a Faercrist. So, she might as well enjoy the adventure into Shurima.

That, and, travelling to Shurima was her only opportunity to feasibly retrieve Parfuin Gúl. She didn't need Talon to give the book to her, she only needed to find it. And, if her suspicions were correct, Talon would be keeping the book with him for reference, and, once she had searched his things, Lux could find it, disguise it (magically, of course) as an inconsequential item, stuff it away in her belongings, and be on her way. But that required the assassin leaving her alone with his luggage for a good few minutes, and the only time Talon had left the train compartment had been around noon to go to the bathroom. He had been only been gone five minutes, maybe less, and Lux had just began to search his bags. She'd found nothing before she had to scramble back to her seat and pretend like she wasn't up to anything.

Fortunately, the assassin hadn't questioned her about it, rather he just gave her a sour look and went back to staring out the window. Lux had gone back to plotting, and ultimately decided she might have better luck either when the man was asleep or, if push came to shove, when they got out in the desert. With that resolved, the mage gazed quietly at the landscape for for far too long. The two said nothing for another six hours until a train attendant came around to take their dinner reservation time, and even then, all that Lux had been able to get out of the man was a simple grunt. Then it was back to neverending quietness. Eventually, just as they began to see the spikes of Mount Gargantuan jutting out on the horizon, boredom overtook the mage and she took it upon herself to break the silence.

"You're a surprisingly good dancer." She offered, hoping that she could trick Talon into engaging in a civil conversation despite his unruly attitude.

The assassin looked up skeptically, as if curious about what had caused that sudden spark of a compliment.

"You watched me dance?" He asked in a tone that, if his voice weren't so gruff, Lux would have said was almost teasing.

"When you danced with Katarina during the parent's waltz."

Talon just grunted in response, clearly not terribly interested in the conversation. Once again, silence filled the compartment. Sitting in quiet contemplation, the mage let her mind wander until, shortly after Talon had let the discussion drop, she found another topic to talk about.

"I bet Swain is behind it." Lux mused.

"Behind what?" Talon's rough voice questioned.

"Your father's disappearance." She explained. "I watched him give Katarina away at the wedding. He seemed far too smug about it."

"It's not Swain." The assassin replied definitively.

"How do you know?" She asked, curious about his decisiveness. "He has everything to gain."

His dark eyes stared into hers, intense and sincere, all at the same time. After a short pause, the assassin seemingly deciding how much he felt like telling her, Talon asked, "Do you remember when Swain set us up?"

"Yes, of course." She replied. "He had wanted to interrogate you too, if I remember correctly."

"He wanted to know where my father was." Talon stated. "Apparently he had been pressing Katarina for information as well. It wasn't until about a year later when one of his set ups finally did work that our theory was confirmed."

"Curious." Lux thought aloud. "If he's not behind it, I can't imagine who is."

"Not a lot of people can." The assassin replied cryptically.

The conversation halted a moment after Talon's ambiguous statement, but it wasn't long before Lux resumed the small talk.

"Who taught you how to dance?" She asked pleasantly, returning to a lighter topic.

"Cassiopeia." He replied evenly. "Before she went to Shurima."

"Are you close to her?" Lux wondered. Talon and Katarina seemed, for lack of better phrasing, thick as thieves, but she had hardly seen Talon and Cassiopeia interact.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" The assassin turned on her, clearly annoyed by her attempts to get him involved in a conversation.

"I was just trying to make small talk!" Lux cried in defense of herself. "We've been sitting here for nine hours. Nine hours, Talon, and we haven't talked! Did you really intend to go the whole trip without conversing?"  
"No, but we don't have to talk about my family." The assassin replied coldly, intense eyes firing back at the mage.

"Fine!" Lux said in exasperation. "You make the small talk then!"

Another small pause elapsed as Talon struggled to think of a subject to talk about. He turned his attention back to her once he had been stricken with a topic.

"I was surprised that you weren't a virgin." He stated simply, as if that sentence should be an acceptable start to a conversation.

For a moment, all that Lux could do was stare at him with a wide mouth and even wider eyes. A second later, she found her voice.

"That is NOT an appropriate subject for small talk, Talon!" She exclaimed, thoroughly outraged.

The assassin chuckled at her response. Well at the very least she'd done away with his surly behavior. It had instead been replaced with orneriness.

"Don't tell me it was that fruitcake?" He laughed, grin starting to show at the corners of his mouth. "You could have done so much better than him. Just think, if you had only waited, I would have been your first."

"What makes you think you're not my third?" She countered, annoyed with his smug behavior.

The assassin raised an eyebrow. "So you're a promiscuous girl."

Blushing, the mage replied. "Of course not!"

"Was I your third?" He questioned.

"No." Lux admitted shyly.

"Was Ezreal your first?" He continued.

"Why are you so interested?" She shot back at him, less willing to answer that question.

"I want to know how much you suffered before experiencing true bliss."

"You are so full of yourself." She commented, intending to insult him.

But Talon just laughed, seemingly unphased by her attack.

Lux took a small moment to calm down, realizing the discussion was not headed where she'd like it to be. Once her head was cooled, she reengaged with a question she suspected the assassin would not like to answer, but one she desperately wanted to ask.

"Why did you sleep with me, Talon?" Her sincere voice almost echoed through the silent compartment.

"For the same reason you slept with me, I imagine." He responded after taking a long moment to think about it.

"Does that mean you like me?" Lux could not hide the anticipation that swimmed in her eyes, nor the embarrassment that colored her cheeks.

Talon was seemingly caught off-guard by her question, seeing it for what it was, a declaration of her feelings. She had put herself out there, dared to be the braver person, at it was up to the assassin on how the rest ended.

After the longest pause in the entire time Lux had been trying to engage the man, Talon finally spoke.

"Yes." His dark eyes held hers in a strikingly fierce stare. "And more."

* * *

Of all the things that could have happened following Talon's assertion, such as a discussion about their relationship status, passionate kissing, and the unmentionables that come after passionate kissing, Talon and Lux ended up just simply getting dinner in the dining car. A train attendant had, rather untimely, interrupted their moment of intent stares and heated blushes, and had notified them it was time for their dinner reservation. Lux had forgotten completely about dinner, and when she was presented with the meal, she found herself decidedly not hungry. During the meal, the two engaged in actual small talk, Lux too shy to bring up Talon's previous declaration, and the assassin apparently uninclined to do the job for her.

Following that, the duo returned to the train compartment, and, much to the disappointment of the mage, went back to staring out of their respective halves of the window. Although the sun had set by that point, Lux still gazed out the glass pane, wondering if she should say something to the man, but ultimately deciding she had been courageous enough for the day. Something that Lux had learned in college, the hard way, she might add, was that just because a man liked a girl didn't mean he wanted to be in any sort of relationship with her. The fellow who had taught the blonde that lesson was long gone by that point in Lux's life, but his impact stayed nonetheless, and something told the mage what she had learned might apply to the assassin. Hell, even she wasn't sure she wanted to be in a relationship with him.

In the end, Lux and Talon never did engage in conversation before they fell asleep. The train was handy enough to have bunk beds, saving Lux the trouble of sleeping next to the assassin in the notably small enclosure. The mage fell asleep surprisingly easily, even despite having no pajamas to change into, something she had become accustomed to in her time on the road. She did bother to remove her breastplate, bracers, boots, and belt, leaving her in her blue body suit. Just before she drifted off to sleep, she cast a small inaudible spell on herself that acted in many ways like an alarm clock. She didn't, however, set the time for a reasonable hour, like ten in the morning, but rather cast it so she would wake up at three, in the dead of night, enabling her to conduct some suspicious business.

Lux woke with a start, as she usually did when she cast the alarm clock spell on her. The spell was useful in many situations, granted, but the one drawback was that it made the caster hear an infernally loud beeping sound that never made for easy awakenings. She had tried to alter the spell several times to make it more tender, but her experiments had never succeeded. So, Lux woke up startled and annoyed, but nonetheless she was awake, and, as such, she got to work.

Slipping off the bed easily, Lux crouched and rummaged through the duffels Talon had packed. She did not expect the book to be particularly difficult to find, given its notable size and age, but as she continued to look and yield no text, Lux became increasingly concerned that the assassin had not brought the book at all. Perhaps he had assumed that she could cast the spell without the aid of the text, or maybe he had made a copy only of the pertinent section. Just as the panic started to grip the mage, she found the book and breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly, she cast a transfiguration spell on the item, molding it into a necklace, which she then slipped around her neck. If her spell casting was as sharp as it had been in her college days, Lux would easily be able to transform the necklace back into the original book once she returned to Demacia. If not, well, perhaps the book was better off destroyed anyways.

Lux stuffed the duffel back under her bed and crawled back into the sheets, job well done. Just as she was about to pull her covers up and drift back into sleep, a startling hand pushed hard against her shoulder, forcing her back into the mattress. After taking a small second to regain her nerves, Lux tried to get a read on the situation, and it didn't take her very long to realize the man hovering above her, pinning her shoulders to the bed, one knee precariously between her thighs, was one unhappy assassin.

"Good grief, Talon!" She whispered furiously. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same question." Lux didn't have to be able to see very well to know that he was giving her an extremely fierce stare.

"I was just tossing and turning in my sleep!" She explained. "Or is that not allowed?"

"Tossing and turning doesn't involve spellcraft." His eyebrows pulled together. Even in the dark room, Lux watched as his eyes drifted down to her new necklace. A manly hand slipped underneath the metal and held it up before her.

"What is this?" His deep voice rang through her ears.

"A necklace." She replied dryly.

"It's the book, isn't it?" He wasn't fooled.

"Clearly not, it's a necklace!" Lux tried to fool him, but she knew it was futile.

Lux watched as the assassin took a deep breath, transforming into almost a content sigh, which eventually changed the attitude of his expression from dangerous to, dare she say it, impish.

"I don't normally like to admit when I've been bested," He began, low voice becoming almost playful. "But I know you're no ordinary thief."

"I'm not a thief." Lux denied the accusation. She was a respectable woman, and respectable women did not engage in thievery.

"Uh-huh." The assassin replied easily. By the way his warm breath bounced off her cheeks, Lux could tell the man was drawing nearer. "You're a tried and true book thief."

"At least I don't intend on stealing souls!" The mage retorted.

"Oh but hearts are perfectly acceptable." He countered fiercely, as if she had done him wrong, and, just as Lux was about to inform him that he was guilty of the same crime, she was silenced by a pair of shockingly familiar lips.

She had been waiting for that kiss the entire day, and even though it had been less than twenty-four hours, it had been far too long for the mage. In all the time she had stared out the window, nothing to do, Lux had had ample time to muse and wonder about what it would be like to be kissed by Talon again. Perhaps it would be wistful, like two lovers who had not seen each other in years, or sweet, like a couple on their wedding day, or, worst of all, dull, like a duo who had nothing to be excited about. But it was none of those. Wistful it might have been only by the smallest degree, sweet it most certainly was not, and dull could not describe any moment she ever spent with the man, much less that particular kiss.

As his hand moved up from her shoulder to cradle her jaw, tilting her head slightly to the side to allow him better leverage over her amenable lips, Lux released a small sigh of contentment, unintentionally encouraging him further. The hand on her jaw slowly slipped closer to her chin until his thumb was in position so that he could inch up the slightest bit to reach her bottom lip. Breaking the kiss, he pulled down on the flesh, Lux unconsciously opening her mouth the smallest amount, and, as she did so, Talon returned to the kiss, but that time introducing tongue. His muscle ran easily underneath hers, engaging the mage in a wildly steamy game of tag. Before she knew it, her arms were wound around the assassin's neck, pulling his body close, forcing the man to place his forearm on the side of her head in an attempt to balance himself.

The hand that had been at her chin slowly trailed south, tracing over the contour of her neck, almost tickling her skin, until it reached her shirt. From there it teased around the divide between her skin and the cloth, threatening to slip underneath, but never actually doing so. Casually, his finger moved across her chest and around to the outside curve of her breast. Being quite the skilled multitasker, Talon simultaneously moved his attentions from her lips to her jaw, kissing and sucking all the way back to her earlobe. As his hand circled around her left breast and his teeth bit at her ear, causing Lux's breath to hitch and a deep blush to form on her pale cheeks, the assassin spoke.

"Who knew Demacia could have raised such a kleptomaniac?" He breathed hotly along her neck.

"I'm not a klept - Aah!" The pad of his thumb pressed firmly into her taut nipple, interrupting her sentence.

"Shhh." He scolded huskily. "We don't want to wake the neighbors."

"You're the one who's…" Lux paused to inhale a shaky breath as Talon played with her breast. "Provoking me."

"Provoking?" Lux could feel him smirk as he kissed her neck. "You make it sound so devious."

"Well you…" She struggled a moment to think of the words she was searching for. The fact that his hand was moving south, dangerously close to the band of her pants, was not helping.

"You are a Noxian."

"You say it as if it's a bad thing." Talon mused as his fingers played along the trim of her leggings. "Your own brother married a Noxian. Perhaps it's a familial preference."

"The same must be true of Du Couteaus with respect to Demacians." She countered in a quick breath.

"What can I say." The assassin practically chuckled as he moved back to her lips. "There's not a woman in Noxus who moans quite like you do, Lux."

To prove his point, he pressed his finger into her womanhood, stirring up latent feelings that Lux had been trying to suppress for the entire train ride. He only let her strangled cry ring out for a moment, though, before he muffled it with a heated kiss. Lux returned the kiss desperately, nails digging into his back as she tried to remain in control of her body while pulses of pleasure shocked through her. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how she looked at it, the assassin slowly withdrew his hand and his lips, leaving the mage panting in need and altogether very quiet.

"Don't give me that look, Lux." He replied huskily.

"Why did you stop?" She asked in a nearly heartbroken tone.

"I've learned my lesson." He answered coolly, almost humorously. "I know better than to fuck you when book stealing is involved."

To that, Lux had no reply. Instead, she just lay there, unsatisfied and wanting, watching as the assassin crept out of her view and back up to his bunk. It took three hours before Lux could fully return to slumber, and, when she did, it had not lasted very long. She drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the morning, altogether very caught up in her thoughts about Talon, not even able to escape him in her dreams.

* * *

Just outside The Capital gates, Lux and Talon stood quietly, watching as the train chugged back into the desert, making its way towards Kumungu. Sand whipped furiously around the pair, alluding to the tough and desolate nature of the sea of sand before them. Lux looked briefly up at the stoic assassin, wondering when would be the best time to tell him, politely of course, that now that she had stolen the book she'd be ready to leave. But before the mage had a chance to utter a word of farewell to the man, he stalked off into the sands, apparently ready to make his way to the Oasis of the Dawn.

Frantically, Lux picked up her luggage, ungracefully chasing after the dark assassin. By the time she had caught up to him, they were a good five minutes away from the train station, the markings of a makeshift waiting hut still barely visible in the distance. Lux wasn't sure if Talon had just expected her to follow and go to the oasis without making any sort of preparations or even just taking a night to regain some strength, or if he was simply hoping that by starting the journey she'd have no choice but to decline. Regardless of his thoughts, Lux was not going to travel any further without addressing the situation at hand.

"Talon!" She called out to the man.

He slowly turned around, dark look in his eyes telling Lux that he had probably predicted she'd make a fuss sooner or later.

"I'm not going to travel to the Oasis of the Dawn with you." She stated firmly.

"You'd like to think you aren't." He replied coldly, and then made to turn back around, but not before Lux could correct him.

"I'm not, Talon!" She declared. "I won't help you forge a sword like the one you intend to make."

"I figured you would feel that way." He spoke evenly. "Look, Lux, I really don't want to have to force you."

"Force me?!" She guffawed. "How can you force me? You've lost your bargaining chip!"

The assassin unsheathed sharp blade. "I have plenty others."

"You wouldn't!" Lux was astounded. How could he go from declaring his feelings for her to threatening to kill her in the space of sixteen hours?

"I wouldn't like to." He corrected, gaze intense as ever.

"What if I declined? Would you really kill me, Talon?" She questioned, testing his resolve.

He did not respond, and the dark shadows around his eyes told Lux perhaps he didn't even know the answer to her question.

Her eyebrows furrowed. She paused a moment to ponder his motives. "Why do you want to forge this sword? Who do you really want to kill?"

"That's none of your business." He replied firmly.

"I think it is if I'm to be forging a sword that rips souls from people's bodies." She countered.

Talon said nothing. Lux could tell, by his creased brow and pursed lips, that she was winning the argument. It was clear that he did not want to tell her anything, but he was being driven to extreme odds, something Lux had not seen before. She wondered what could possibly bother him enough to make him resolve to do such evil things.

"Is this about your father?" Lux asked tenderly.

The twinge of anger present in his eyes told the mage she was correct in her assumption.

"You know where he is don't you?"

"I know who holds him captive." He finally spoke, hard voice carrying well even in the desert. "He is not a being who can be killed by normal methods."

Looking curiously at the man, she gestured for him to continue, hoping that he would.

After a moment of contemplation, the assassin spoke. "He belongs to the race of species that heavily influenced the book you hold as a necklace, the Darkin. He does not age, and he does not bleed for long. He seems nearly impossible to kill, but, I suspect that absolution would be a surefire way to rid the world of his filth."

"What makes you think you have to kill him in order to save your father?" Lux questioned, ever the peacemaker.

"What other way is there?" Talon shot back. "He holds him captive in his lair, only to create tension between the powers in Noxus! If I want my father freed, the Darkin has to die."

Sighing, the mage softly shook her head. "You assassins only think of bloody options. Going to extreme measures to accomplish what can be done with only a little bit of subterfuge."

Crossing his arms, Talon regarded the mage skeptically. "What do you suggest, then?"

"How about a little bit of magic? And not the malevolent kind." She offered easily.

"No."

"So magic when you want to create an evil sword is fine, but magic to save you from corruption isn't?" She argued.

"Corruption?" He raised an eyebrow. "What do you care about it, Lux? You have your book."

Well, he was certainly mistaken if he thought she didn't care. Since when did "I like you" mean "I don't care"? For all of his expertise in the bedroom, he was just about lost when it came to understanding her feelings. The mage took a moment to calm herself, inhaling a deep breath to keep herself from raging at the unruly assassin.

"You would sacrifice your livelihood to save your father when, after using the sword, you'd likely just kill him yourself?" She finally said.

"I have better control over my soul than the people mentioned in that book." He declared, focused eyes telling Lux he was intent of setting out what he had intended to accomplish.

"Fine, if you want to think like that, so be it!" Lux turned on her heel, fully prepared to face whatever extortion Talon thought he could do to her.

"Where do you think you're going?!" The assassin yelled, clearly outraged at her decision to leave.

"I'M LEAVING!" She shrieked back. "FORGE YOUR OWN DAMN SWORD!"

She only stepped two feet towards the train station before her upper arm was caught in a firm grasp. Talon turned her to face him, eyes fierce as ever. He said nothing for the better part of a minute. Instead, he just stood there, holding her arm and staring her down, as if debating on what he intended to do. Lux could see the emotions displaying on his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide them. First there was anger, as expected. But it was soon followed by a touched expression, like Talon finally understood that her reasons for denying the mission were less about the sword she'd be forging and more about the man she'd be corrupting. Lastly his facial muscles settled on the calmest expression she had seen that day, and soon after, the assassin spoke.

"Alright, I'll make you a deal." He said evenly. "I'll try it your way. We'll plan some sort of elaborate jailbreak, and if we manage to save my father then I won't bother you about the sword or the book anymore."

Lux liked the sound of that. Just as she was about to accept his terms, the assassin added, "But, if we fail in rescuing my father, then you will march your Demacian ass back here and forge me Faercrist, one way or another, got it?"

She couldn't help but pause to consider the offer. Not that she didn't like it, no she really rather did. Still, the but clause made her rather uneasy. After a few seconds of deliberating, the mage offered the assassin her hand. "It's a done deal, then."

Coolly, Talon returned the handshake. "The plotting is in your hands now, Lux."

Lux couldn't help but to say, "A tactical decision, I think."

In the end, the curious duo returned to the train station they had just arrived at not half an hour earlier, Lux excited at the prospect of a jailbreak. Sure, there was still a lot of information she needed to milk out of the man, but he'd be more willing to surrender it than he had during previous encounters. That and, with any amount of luck, she'd finally be able to see some real action for the first time since she had been a spy in Noxus. But, as Lux and Talon waited in the little hut, prepared to hop in an enclosed compartment and spend another twenty-four hours staring out of a glass window, the mage could not help but feel disappointed that she would be leaving Shurima so quickly, and, as the image of The Capital began to fade away, she promised herself that one day she would return to the desert.


	10. Classic Misdirection

_Author's Note: Hi guys! First of all, let me apologize profusely for dropping off of the face of the earth! Nevertheless, I have returned, as promised, and with a new chapter to boot! I'll be happy to explain why I disappeared a little bit below, but for those of you who are just interested in story content, let me preface this chapter by saying that I am oddly happy with how this is turning out. In my experience, endings never really work out well for me, but I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I suspect the next chapter (and the last!) should come quickly, since I am rather excited for it myself._

 _As for why I went missing, it really just has to do with one little thing I'm sure many of you know about. College Apps! Oh my god. I thought I was done with that in high school. But, the college I am currently at is not good for me for a multitude of reasons, and so I applied to eight (EIGHT!) new colleges in the hopes of transferring! On the bright side, apps are done and I've already been accepted to one! (Yay!) Though I'm still holding out for UNC at Chapel Hill. :P_

 _Anyways, I'm going to be traveling next week, though that may or may not impact my updating. If I can get the next chapter done before I leave on Saturday (unlikely but possible) than you all will get to enjoy the ending of Sub Rosa while I enjoy Disneyworld! Otherwise, you'll just have to wait until after my date with Mickey Mouse. ;)_

 _Lastly, I'd just like to say thank you to all of you who favorite, review, and follow! It means a world to me and really helps me get these chapters into production. I hope you like "Classic Misdirection" as much as I enjoyed writing it!_

* * *

Sitting nervously in the Institute Library, Lux carefully lifted the necklace over her head and placed it on the table. The man sitting across from her was stern and still, severe demeanor doing little to calm the mage. Little had changed in the day it had taken for the duo to leave Shurima and arrive back at the Institute of War. Talon was still his annoying surly self, often brooding and cold, but, every now and then, a glimmer of flirtation would shine through. It was giving Lux quite a rough time as she tried to decipher was exactly was running through that brain of his.

Ultimately, Lux had decided that Talon was not a trusting man, and therefore, the few times that she had, in his eyes, betrayed him had really cut deep. While the mage wished he would just man up and realize she did what she did out of necessity, Lux realized the chances of that happening were slim to none. After a few thoughtful hours on another boring, quiet train ride, Lux had quickly understood that Talon intended to do exactly nothing about their undefined relationship. In fact, she suspected the assassin would just as well leave the romance hanging in the air where it was, if he was not pressed. So that left Lux with the task of figuring out just how to trick Talon into admitting that he wanted to date her. But, unfortunately for the mage, those sorts of antics were hard to accomplish when tasked with a rescue mission.

Sighing, the mage wasted no time and immediately began to channel her energy into a spell to transform the necklace back into the book it once was. She could almost touch the tension hanging in the air, an incredible amount of pressure pushing on her shoulders as she prepared her spell. So much information lay within the book, and the thought that she might have sealed it away forever was almost enough to make her queasy.

Prior to transforming Parfuin Gúl, Lux had considered the tome to only contain information about hideous sorcery, but after she had agreed to help Talon in his quest to save his father, she soon learned that the book contained so much more. According to the assassin, Marcus Du Couteau had supposedly disappeared to investigate a connection between The Black Rose and a Darkin Talon thought went by the name of Aatrox. Aside from being a tome about spells once known only to the ancient species, Parfuin Gúl apparently contained the General's own handwritten marks penned on the sheets of paper, citing his suspicions about Leblanc's insidious organization and their involvement with the Darkin. That and a note from the General given to Cassiopeia just before he vanished, with a curious black rose printed on the page had been enough to convince Lux of Talon's theory.

After an intense moment of concentration, Lux released her power and the necklace glowed for a moment, just before returning to its former dusty tome appearance. Even the ivy covered door embossed on the cover remained the same. Opening the book, Lux was relieved to find that the pages were not blank, and, after a few page flips, could clearly see two different handwriting styles.

"You were right." Lux stated blankly as she thumbed through the pages. "I'll need a couple of days to read through this, however."

"I figured." The assassin replied easily. "Though I would be careful where you research. If the wrong person sees you with that it could be trouble."

"What do you mean?" Lux asked curiously.

"Read the note before the preface and you will see what I mean." Talon explained. "It tells of how my father acquired the book."

"Indeed." The mage mused for a moment before her face contorted with confusion. "I was told it had been lost in the sands until Sivir happened upon it two and a half years ago and sold it to the Jenkinses."

"Sivir did pick it up in the sands." Talon said calmly. "But it had not been there for very long. My father most certainly had it in the years preceding his disappearance."

"Curious." Lux said as she flipped through the chapters, mentally noting which she was to read first. "And that's why you think your father's being held out in Sai?"

"I don't think it." He spoke in a firm tone that drew Lux's attention. "There is a 'holy location' of sorts mentioned in Parfuin Gúl. One my father's notes point to as a particular source of interest. Not two months ago, I went to that location, a cave in Sai. As I lay hidden, one hundred feet away from the opening, I saw my father unconscious and chained. Just as I was about to go in to save him, a winged figure came into view. As you can imagine, I've been anxious to get him out of there, but I know better than to foolishly charge in."

"And you're sure it was that Aatrox character?"

"Given what I read about in the text and what Ezreal and Tryndamere told me, I'd say so."

"Ezreal?" Lux raised an eyebrow. Since when had he talked to Ezreal?

"Yes, I cornered him even before I knew about Parfuin Gúl." Talon explained calmly, but beneath the cool expression painting his face, Lux could see the beginnings of a smirk.

"You did?" She asked.

"He had stolen a couple of items that belonged to my father. Some Darkin figurines that were once in his office and a book of Noxian fables that also used to be one of my father's possessions. To this day, the Explorer denies stealing them, instead saying they were found in an abandoned Noxian library." After stating that, the assassin did smirk. "Well, I told him the next time he lied to me I'd make sure it was the last."

Sighing, Lux shot a scolding look at the man. "No wonder he has such a reaction to you."

The assassin said nothing, but he did sport a sort of satisfied look that Lux wished to wipe off of his smug, handsome, kissable… As a small blush began to crest her cheeks, the mage resigned to save such thoughts for a later time.

"And what did Tryndamere say?" She pressed on.

"He gave the name Aatrox." He replied easily. "I'd heard from my sister that he'd encountered a Darkin, and so I joined the league to ask him about it, among other reasons. Tryndamere gave me a similar description to the one Ezreal gave me, and both matched the figurines."

"But did they match the body you saw?" She asked.

"Well the figure I saw was winged."

"Did it have any of the other characteristics, like the horns?"

"I wasn't close enough to tell." His brows furrowed as he anticipated her argument. "You name another figure that has wings and could possibly behind this, and maybe I'll accept your theory."

"Fine." Lux crossed her arms. "I agree, you have a compelling argument. And certainly something is holding your father in that cave. The question now is how to save him. Though it sounds like he's not heavily guarded?"

"Not once did I see the winged figure leave. Depending on how dangerous it is, I'd say that's heavily guarded enough." Talon crossed his arms.

"Ok," The mage thought for a minute. "Perhaps an invisibility shroud would work."

"That's your plan?" His eyes went wide as he heard her proposition. "Go invisible?"

"It's pretty simple." She responded easily. "All we have to do is set an illusion at your father's location, cast the shroud, sneak in, break him free, and sneak out. Done."

"What if the winged figure can detect magic? Or see through invisibility, for that matter?" The assassin asked with a flat expression.

"Yes, that would be a problem." Lux admitted. "Let me do some research. I should be able to round up all the information I need within a week. Then we can get to planning."

The mage stood casually, gathering the book in her arm and readying to head back to her institute apartment.

"I'll bring you the books I have on the subject. As you can imagine, I've had quite sometime to delve into this." The assassin replied as he rose from his chair.

"And yet, you know so little!" Lux taunted.

Talon glared at her. She watched as a vein in his neck moved slightly, drawing her attention to the little crevice between his collarbones. Lux found that particular area of his upper chest rather attractive, and it wasn't the only part of his body she had regarded recently. Ever since he had more or less confessed his feelings for her, the mage had noticed herself becoming increasingly appreciative of the odder parts of his body, such as the lean look of his calves as he had pulled on his pants one morning, or the prominent shape of his knuckles and how long and lean they made his fingers look. These were signs to Lux that she was dealing with a notable amount of captivation, and while she would have prefered to deny it, the mage knew she needed to have her situation with the assassin resolved sooner rather than later.

A deep voice emanating from the man in question startled Lux from her thoughts.

"What is your apartment address?" He asked casually, as if his inquiry were completely normal. Lux could not help but blush.

Taking out a piece of paper, the mage scribbled her address down on the page, embarrassed by the shaky nature of her hand.

"Here." She offered the paper to Talon. Carefully, she lifted her gaze to meet his. "When can I expect the books?"

"It will take me a couple of days to get them from the house. I'd say I can have them mailed to you within two days." He replied coolly as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"And when should we meet up to discuss our battle strategy?" She asked as she pulled on the library door handle.

"Same time next week?" He suggested nonchalantly. "But I think perhaps not in the library."

"No..." Lux agreed. It was too public a place, even the prude part of her thought as much. "How about at my apartment?"

She noticed the assassin raise an eyebrow, and immediately flushed. He thought she was hitting on him! No sir, she was just being safe.

"Sounds good." Talon chuckled just before he stalked off into the hallway, leaving Lux to watch was he walked away.

It took Lux longer than she would have liked to admit to stop gazing at the assassin's form, but eventually she did find her way back to her apartment. For as much as she liked the man, she knew, or at least had very good reason to suspect, that she was not alone in her feelings. What she really needed was to turn the tables. Make him unable to stop gazing at her. But seduction was something the mage was entirely inexperienced in, and attempting to be a seductress would more than likely lead to an undue amount of embarrassment. In the end, Lux resolved to just do her reading, hoping that perhaps, somewhere in the book of dark secrets, there might be some inspiration for just how to deal with a surly, outrageously attractive assassin.

* * *

As the only daughter of the noble Crownguard family, Lux owned a great deal of possessions. She had things of all sorts of variety, like a pearl white vanity table with a secret storage space for her wand, a pair of high heels with the Crownguard crest embossed on the sole, and even a chestnut brown thoroughbred named Concord whom she rode far too little. But despite all of the material things she could claim as her own, the one thing the blonde Demacian mage could not say she owned was a seductive wardrobe.

This had never been a problem for Lux until she met Talon. As a noble daughter with what she considered was slightly above average attractiveness, Lux had never ever been in the position of having to seduce a man. Rather, suitors like Ezreal would easily fall for her heart-shaped face and large bank account and proceed to do all of the work for her. So, for the first time in her life, Lux was was struck with the issue of having to decide what exactly to wear to capture the interest of a man.

In the end, Lux resigned to wear a simple white summer dress with thick straps and a fitted bodice. It was in no way sexy. Sure the hem came only halfway down her thigh, showing a fair amount of leg, and her arms were completely bare, but no amount of skin exposure could make the dress racy. The white lace embroidered on every inch of the dress hinting at flowers and butterflies did very little to suggest flirtatiousness.

Looking in the mirror solemnly, the mage sighed. There was nothing to be done. She thought back to the white haired woman she'd seen Talon with at the wedding and knew there was no way she could accomplish such a mature look. All she could do was hope that Talon liked the adorable doll look, which at the very least, Lux could say he had in the past.

A loud knock on the door immediately shook Lux from her thoughts. The mage scrambled out of her room and over to the front door, but stopped harshly before the block of wood to take a moment to calm herself. She breathed in deep, trying to still her hands that were shaking, but eventually resolved just to get the job over with.

As she pulled open her apartment door, Lux was not at all shocked to find a handsome assassin in a simple T-Shirt and jeans standing on the other side. She was not surprised, but that did not mean she did not blush.

"Uh, hi." Not her most eloquent greeting.

"Hey." His deep voice rumbled past her ears.

Lux stood there awkwardly for a second, as if she had forgotten entirely what she was supposed to do. Then, after she felt the blush on her cheeks intensify, she stepped aside and gestured for Talon to enter.

"Um, thanks for delivering the books earlier." She said in what she hoped was a casual tone, but probably was not. "They were pretty helpful."

"No problem." The assassin replied coolly, his hands slipping into his pockets.

Lux led him over to the couch in her living room, gesturing for him to sit on the pale blue piece of furniture.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked, immediately remembering her Demacian hospitality lessons.

"Water would be great." Talon replied nonchalantly as he sat on the plush bit of furniture, immediately picking up one of the books resting on the coffee table in front of him. Lux almost considered asking him to take off his shoes, seeing as his feet were resting on a very old family heirloom, an ancient rug with intricate designs that had unfortunately been frayed far too many times at its edges. But the nerves overwhelmed her, and Lux could not find it in herself to order the assassin around.

She retreated quickly into the kitchen, hastily retrieving a couple of glasses from a cabinet. Trying to steady her hand as she poured water into the glasses proved to be an impossible task, and ultimately the mage ended up with several small puddles on her countertop. Even as she crossed the kitchen to retrieve a couple of paper towels, Lux could tell her knees were shaking. She'd never been so anxious in her entire life.

Resolving to just get the meeting over with, and also to sit her jittery butt down, Lux walked hastily back into the living room. Now, under normal circumstances, the mage would have set the glasses down on the coasters all nice and ladylike, flattened her dress as she took a seat, and gotten right to business. But these were not normal circumstances. So, instead of having all of the normal grace and elegance of a Crownguard, Lux's fidgety foot connected with a frayed end of the ancient heirloom rug. The mage was far too rattled to recover in any fashion, and so, poor Luxanna Crownguard, daughter of one of the most noble families in Demacia, found herself careening directly into one notorious Noxian assassin.

The second or two it took her to fall into the assassin's lap went completely undocumented by the mage. As far as she was concerned, one moment she had been upright and tidy, ready to deliver some cool drinks, and the next she was straddling Talon's right thigh, hands placed on either side of his hips, face buried in his neck. And, for some reason, she was also pretty wet.

It took longer than the mage would have liked to withdraw herself from the attractive assassin. The first thought that raced through her mind as she found herself within close proximity to the man who made her so nervous in the first place was that he smelled so good. Just like a crisp winter evening, with a touch of burning firewood and frost coating the grass.

The second thought was that she needed to get the fuck out of there.

After the mage had taken a moment to appreciate the assassin's incense, Lux was on her feet faster than Talon could say "kiss me". Not that Lux thought that he would have said that, but a girl could hope. Mouth open and eyes wide, the flustered mage stared down at the assassin with a face that must have resembled a shocked tomato, unable to conjure any sort of sound.

Talon just chuckled.

Lux flushed even more, but, for the first time that afternoon, not out of embarrassment. Anger began to rise up within the mage, but once again, she could find no words to express her feelings. In a frustrated huff, the mage bent down to pick up the two glasses that hand landed on the floor. Even as she marched back to the kitchen to drop the infernal tableware in the sink, she could hear Talon laughing at her.

"If that is your not so subtle way of saying I need a shower," Talon smirked as she sat down on the couch, not bothering to deal with drinks a second time. "Consider the suggestion noted."

"Let's just get to work." Lux huffed, ready to put the last few seconds behind her.

"That's fine with me, but," The assassin paused, allowing his dark eyes to drift along her neckline. "You might want to change."

Immediately, the mage glanced down at her bodice, and was mortified to find that her white dress, soaked now, was completely see through. With an undignified scream, the mage ran from the living room and sought out solace in her bedroom. She could still hear the assassin laughing. He wasn't even making an effort to muffle it.

The mage returned to the living room in a T-Shirt and pajama pants. She had completely given up.

Sitting down, Lux took a deep breath and tried again. "How about we get to work?"

"Alright." The assassin replied, still smirking. "Where do we start?"

"Well, how about with a plan to extract your father?" She suggested.

"You already know my plan." Talon replied easily.

Lux sighed. "Like I've already said, I don't think that is necessary. From what I can tell, Darkin don't have any special magic sensing abilities, and so my simple plan of illusions should work perfectly. Though I'm not even sure what you saw was a Darkin in the first place."

"Of course it was." Talon huffed. "Didn't you read the forward? And all of my father's notes? Swain and LeBlanc have been clearly working with the Darkin."  
She had read them. Talon did have a fair point. A lot of the General's research had been about the relationship between the Black Rose and the mysterious race. Though, from what Lux had been able to tell, the General's findings suggested that the Black Rose was trying to gain the Darkin as an ally, not that they were actually working together.

"I just think we should be prepared for anything. Like, something that's not a Darkin. Did you know there's a spell in Parfuin Gúl that teaches the caster how to make itself a pair of wings?"

"I did." The assassin stated. "But this book hasn't been in anyone's hands who has done that. My father doesn't have wings and last I checked LeBlanc doesn't either."

Lux frowned. Although it was true that the General had stolen Parfuin Gúl from LeBlanc, Talon was making the assumption that she had held it ever since it had left the hands of the favorite mage of Jarvan I.

"Fine." Lux conceded. "Well if it is really a Darkin we're dealing with, I have no reason to suspect that he could detect magic. I suggest I cast an invisibility spell on each of us, then you will sneak in an untie your father while I cast an illusion at your location to make it appear as if nothing is happening. Once your father is untied, we can sneak out and be on our merry way."

"Won't my father need to be invisible?" Talon asked.

"Yes, I'll probably need to put you in a sphere of invisibility in order for this to work. You'll probably need to carry your father on your back and be careful where you walk. If you get too close to furniture or something it will half disappear. That's a dead giveaway."

"Can't you just cast one spell on my father and one on me?" The assassin suggested.

"Doesn't work like that." She shrugged. "Anything that is not a sphere only makes one thing invisible. I'd have to cast one on you and one for each item you are wearing, and the same would go for your father. It would suck all of the energy out of me. A sphere is much easier."

"Yeah I can see how that would be the case."

"Sound like a reasonable solution to you?" She questioned.

"Yeah, I suppose." He shrugged. "What do we do if your assumption that Darkin can't detect magic is wrong?"

"We do the same thing that we would do if it isn't actually a Darkin we're dealing with." Lux put on a small smirk. "We improvise."

Talon frowned. Clearly he did not like the idea.

"We can't prepare for every situation possible." The mage reasoned. "And, unfortunately, we don't have enough information to know which situations are most likely. If it makes you feel better, it would require a highly talented mage to detect magic of my level, and an even better one to dispel it. I mean, if that's the case, we're probably dead meat no matter what."

The frown had not left his face. "Well I'm at least fairly certain Swain and LeBlanc don't have those sorts of capabilities."

"It's not taught in Parfuin Gúl either." She stated. "Magic detection and cancellation is a highly overlooked skill. Even some of the most prestigious colleges in Demacia don't teach it. Not worth the hassle, they say. Fortunately the place where I went did not hold such opinions."

"Alright." Talon sighed as he began to stand up. "I accept your questionable plan to rescue my father. Now, I'd like to head out sooner rather than later. The next train that leaves for Sai leaves in two days."  
"That's fine." Lux said as she rose. "Just send me the tickets and I'll be there."

Talon nodded as they walked over to her front door.

"This meeting was quicker than I had expected it to be." Lux remarked. She was understandably relieved that he'd be leaving shortly. Though her knees were not on the verge of buckling anymore, she could still feel the butterflies in her stomach.

Talon turned on her.

"How long were you expecting it to take?" He asked with a smile that Lux thought was dangerously flirtatious.

She felt her cheeks grow hot.

"Uh, I don't know, I just figured you'd um…" Lux felt her mind go blank as she watched Talon lean on the wall beside her. The assassin had inched forward just a bit. Blushing even more, the mage recovered her train of thought. "Argue about the plan more than you did."

"Uh-huh." Talon murmured as his eyes drifted over her black graphic T-Shirt. Lux almost froze in shock when his fingers started to play with the hem. "Not your most flattering outfit."

"Well I had something nice on earlier!" Lux protested.

"So you _were_ trying to seduce me with that pure white dress?" He raised an eyebrow, reading her completely.

"I was not! Just because I dress nicely does not mean I was trying to seduce you!" She lied.

"Look, Lux, if you want me so badly you could just ask." He chuckled.

"Oh so if I walked up to you and said, 'Hey Talon, why don't you step in my bedroom and take me to Squealtown?' you would oblige?" She asked in an incredulous tone, crossing her arms as she glared up at the infernal man.

Lux was surprised to see all hints of humor disappear from his face. She was even more taken aback by his answer.

His intense eyes bore into hers as he replied in an incredibly husky voice. "For you, I would."

There were only a couple things Lux could do when a man talked to her like that. Firstly, she could slap him. That would probably be the most sensible thing to do, especially if the man in question was a Noxian assassin, as he so happened to be. Secondly, she could run away to her room, hide under her sheets, and refuse to come out ever again. Lux was surprised exactly how much she wanted to take option number to. But, in the end, the Demacian mage went with option number three, which was to kiss the living daylights out of said Noxian assassin.

With all of the passion and vigor that only a twenty four year old Demacian mage can possess, Lux flung herself at the assassin, wildly wrapping her arms around his strong neck and kissing him with an unparalleled amount of ardor. Talon, seemingly surprised by her movement, took a steadying step backwards while he wrapped a strong arm around her supple waist. It wasn't long before his unoccupied slender fingers curled around the nape of her neck, tilting her head backwards as he stood tall in front of her, sucking on her lips as if he might never taste them again.

The two stood there, kissing and nipping, for what might have seemed like an eternity to an observer. But for Lux, it was just a blip in time. Still, the mage knew that as much as she might have liked to stay glued to her favorite assassin, kissing him would do nothing to quell the feelings that would rise up within her after he left. Slowly and reluctantly, Lux extracted herself from Talon's grasp.

"I'm sorry, I…" She started, breathing heavily, not knowing quite how to finish. "I can't keep on hooking up with you like this."

Talon's brows furrowed and immediately Lux recognized the confusion painted on his face, but she also thought she saw a glimmer of pain. The mage began to feel guilty for claiming such a drastic sentiment.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a cold voice.

"Everytime we kiss or we…" She paused, feeling herself blush. "There's nothing defined between us, Talon. I don't like feeling like I'm being lead on a chase that has no finish."

Talon snorted. "You think _you're_ the one who's being led on? _You're_ the one who kissed _me_!"

"I know!" Lux exclaimed. "That's because I like you, Talon!"

She stared up at him with what she imagined must have been amazingly wide eyes. His own dark orbs gazed back down at her, almost softly. There was undoubtedly conflict in the air, but from the look of it, the assassin was sympathetic to her feelings. Just as Lux was about to open her mouth to apologize for not expressing herself in a more controlled manner, Talon did something she would not have anticipated in a million years. He hugged her.

The assassin's strong arms wrapped around her small shoulders, his chin resting softly on her head. Slowly, the mage returned his gesture, clasping her hands behind his back. Her breath caught in her throat and Lux found it impossible to conjure words.

After a long moment, Talon finally spoke.

"There are many facts about my life that tell me I should not feel about you the way that I do." He said quietly, continuing to pause for a calm few seconds. "Who am I, a Noxian, a cold-blooded killer, a vengeful man seeking to free his father, to fall in love with a beautiful, bright Demacian noble?"

"Talon," Lux sighed gently. "You're human."

* * *

" _Vasher!" She screamed in desperation. "Vasher, stop it! This is madness!"_

 _Running up to the elusive man, Vivenna pulled hard on his muscled bicep, trying, and failing, to rip it away from Nightblood. Even through the corner of his eye, the princess could see hatred burning in his dark eyes._

Draw me. _Nightblood spoke eerily to Vasher._ Destroy evil.

" _Cut it out!" Vivenna shouted as she stepped in front of the determined man. Forcefully, she pushed against his shoulders, backing him away from the people he sought to destroy. She then moved her hands up to his face, resolved to make him listen to her before he turned to Nightblood._

" _Vivenna." Vasher spoke softly, almost as if he was noticing her for the first time._

" _Vasher, please." She could feel the hot tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't draw the sword."_

I don't know why you'd say that, Vivenna. _Nightblood spoke evenly._ These men need to be vanquished.

" _I have to, Vivenna." He was no longer looking at her. Instead, his eyes were dead set on the men not one hundred feet in the distance, completely unaware of their presence. "They deserve it."_

 _She couldn't hold the tears in any longer. With her face pressed into his chest, she cried into his shirt, delicate hands pulling on the fabric, willing him to just stay with her._

 _But he didn't. Vasher's hand slowly wrapped around the hilt of Nightblood, clicking the clasp undone, allowing black smoke to seep into the air. The willful man pushed past Vivenna, heading towards the group of murderers, rapists, and thieves he fully intended to give a fate worse than death._

 _Vivenna couldn't watch. She sank to the ground solemnly as she listened to the screams and cries of men suffering. Those men deserved it. But their pain was not what made Vivenna distraught. Rather, it was Vasher. He couldn't wield the sword for such a purpose. He would lose his soul._

 _With a surge of bravery and strength, the princess shot up and bolted for the man, intent on keeping him from destroying himself in the process of punishing those men. They weren't worth it._

 _Vasher didn't see her. He didn't notice as she came running around to his frontside. He didn't hear her loud footsteps and whimpering cries as she approached. He didn't see her step in front of the murderer, determined to keep Nightblood from taking any more souls. And what followed Vivenna's brash movements and Vasher's inability to sense his surroundings was a cut so deep no amount of magic could possibly mend it._

 _Hair white in shock, Vivenna collapsed to the ground, arms wrapped around her bleeding guts._

" _Vasher." She choked. "Stop."_

" _Vivenna!" The man bellowed, Nightblood clattering to the ground as he let the sword leave his grasp. Immediately, he bent to hold the princess. "What have you done, Vivenna?"_

" _You can't do this, Vasher." She breathed shallowly, color slipping from her as she began to pass away. "Don't sacrifice your life for men who aren't worth it."_

 _Gasping for air as her lips paled, the dying princess offered her last words to the heartbroken man. "I love you."_

"Did you hear me?" A bold voice cut through the mage's thought's, interrupting her reading. Slowly, Lux canceled the spell that she had used to keep her book, "Peacegiver", floating in front of her and aligned with her eyes as she walked. It was one of the many handy spells Lux had learned in her time at college, though this particular one was only useful if she did not need to watch where she was walking. Seeing as Lux was currently in the middle of the desolate desert known as Sai, there was little need for her to watch where she stepped.

Since her last time traveling to Shurima, Lux had learned from her mistakes and had thought to bring a couple of books along with her. Over the day long train ride to the capital, the mage had managed to finish three of the four books she had brought with her, and now she was in danger of finishing the fourth. All of that and she still had to make the journey back. Perhaps after rescuing his father, Talon would prove to be a better conversationalist.

Sighting, the mage caught the book as it fell and carefully tucked it into her backpack.

"Why do you always interrupt at the best parts?" The mage whined, staring up at the stoic assassin.

But Talon just looked dead ahead, intently focused on something in the distance.

"We're here." He muttered quietly. Lux could see the intensity swimming in his eyes. So much anticipation was hanging in the air, and immediately the mage knew she had to do everything in her power to help Talon save his father.

"Alright well I guess it is time we get started then." Lux shrugged, offering an air of nonchalance that she certainly didn't possess. She hoped it might do something to help quell Talon's nerves, and her own.

Setting down her backpack, the mage dug deep within until she withdrew a plastic flask, which she proceeded to hand to Talon.

"This is an anti-magic serum." She explained. "Drink it and it will rid all magical effects on you, including the invisibility. Hopefully you won't need to use it at all."

"Won't I need it once I'm done rescuing my father?" He asked plainly.

"No, once you're back I have a couple of spells I can use to cancel the magic." She reasoned. "No need to waste the serum. It's very expensive stuff."

"Ah."

"Ok, next point of order is that once we both go invisible, there will be little way for you to find me. I have spells that will allow me to track you as you move, but I'll be in an invisibility sphere too. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of efficient ways for me to give you my location without you knowing some magic on your own, so you'll just have to trust that I'll cancel the invisibility once you return. Of course, if trouble finds me, I'll scream."

She smiled in what she hoped was a humorous manner, but the assassin did not seem amused.

"Sounds good. Let's get going then." He said gruffly, clearly concentrating on the task before him.

"Very well." Lux replied. "Wait until I tell you to go. Your invisibility sphere will be a one and a half foot radius. That is, anything within one and a half feet from the closest point on your body will be invisible to anyone standing outside the sphere, so be careful where you walk. Mine will be a five foot radius, so you will be able to see me initially, but once we move to get in position I'll disappear."

The assassin nodded gruffly, and, with that, Lux set about casting her spells.

Firstly, she cast an infrared detector on herself, allowing her to toggle between normal vision and infrared vision. She'd be able to keep track of Talon that way, and more importantly, any other bodies that entered the scene. Secondly, she cast the sphere of invisibility on herself. She had thought about casting a sphere of silence as well, but should things go wrong, the mage still wanted to have the ability to scream and be heard. Lastly, she cast the sphere of invisibility on Talon.

She watched as Talon faded from completely opaque to invisible, almost as if he was slowly becoming more blurry, like some indescribable force stood in front of him, preventing Lux from viewing him. The mage almost lost control of her emotions as she wondered morbidly if that would be the last time she saw the man, but after taking a deep breath, she was able to regain her calm demeanor.

"You're ready to go." She said matter-of-factly. "I'll be down by the entrance of the cave as well, to cast the illusion and to keep track of you. And, if things go wrong, don't hesitate to holler for me or drink the serum."

"Do you have one?" He asked in a concerned tone. Lux almost blushed. Was he that worried for her safety? Probably, and that came of no surprise to the mage, though it still continued to tickle her pink. She suspected it always would.

"Yes, I do. I have two more in my backpack."

"Well, I think we're ready." Lux stated in a steady voice. If she could have seen the assassin, she would have guessed that he still had that determined air about him. She wished she could tell him that everything would be alright, that his father would be healthy and fine, that the rescue would go off without a hitch. She wished she could tell that to herself, but ultimately, there was only one thing she could do.

"Let's go." She heard Talon say coolly, marking the start of their mission. With that, Lux set off trudging into the desert, intent on saving a Noxian assassin.


	11. The Enduring

_Author's Note: Omg. It's finally done! Ish. I don't think I will ever finish editing my own personal copy, but for the intents and purposes of Fanfiction, it is complete! I hope you guys have enjoyed this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it! I know I say that practically every chapter, but it just amazes me how far this has come. I started it as a little project this summer, I didn't even intend to post it anywhere... And now it's this crazy 50 thousand word monstrosity! Clearly this is the longest anything I've ever written. Anyways, you all have been peaches, and I am ever grateful for the support I have received. I mean it when I say I don't think I would have finished it without you guys. You keep me motivated!_

 _Also, I may or may not be planning to add a "smutilogue" to the end of this... ;)_

 _Anyways, I hope you enjoy the last installment of Sub Rosa! As always, please don't hesitate to PM me or anything if you have any questions/comments/ideas/want to gush about Talon/Lux and other cute League couples. Until next time!_

* * *

At first, Lux had been rather shocked to see footprints grazing through the sand approaching the desolate cave. Her intuition told her it had to be Talon leaving behind the tracks, but she checked with her infrared vision nonetheless. It seemed odd to her that the invisibility sphere should behave in such a way, and for a moment the mage even bothered to wonder why the ground a foot and half beneath him was still visible. It also seemed odd to her that caves made of rock and stone could jut out of mountains covered in sand, but there were many things she did not understand about magic, and even more she did not comprehend about the landscape of Shurima, and as much as she might have liked to delve into the mysteries, she saved such inquiries for a more appropriate time.

Lux stood on top of a mound of sand facing the cave entrance, only fifty feet from the mouth. Upon realizing that her footprints must also be visible to inhabitants of the cave, of which there seemed to be only one, a ragged prisoner who looked strikingly like the General Du Couteau, the mage stepped slightly behind the mound so that she could still see into the cave, but such that her feet, and therefore footprints, would be hidden.

Turning her attention back to Talon, the mage watched as he gained on the entrance. He covered the remaining ten feet or so at a remarkable speed considering his stealthy movements. Lux even checked her infrared vision again to make sure he wasn't running, though she suspected he knew how to perform just about every movement without making noise. Satisfied that the assassin was indeed being slow and methodical enough about his approach into the cave, Lux returned to normal vision and waited for the moment she could no longer see his footprints.

Once all signs of Talon vanished, the mage set her efforts towards recreating the sight before her as an illusion. It was a fairly simple one, that of a disheveled man chained to a stone wall. How the capturer had managed to secure chains to the inside of a cave, Lux had no idea, but that did not concern her at that particular moment. She needed to get the illusion perfect.

Despite the apparent simplicity of her illusion spell, it was actually rather intricate. While it would have been trivial for a mage of her training and knowledge to create an illusion only for people looking into the cave, Lux suspected the creature she would be needed to trick would not be approaching the General from her direction. Creating an illusion to mimic something the caster could not see was not an impossible task, but it was quite a bit more difficult.

It took longer than the mage would have liked, but eventually, she secured the illusion and finished her job. All she had to do now was to wait and watch.

Switching to infrared vision, Lux realized she had gotten the spell off just in time. Talon's figure was just beginning to approach the chained man. The assassin bent tenderly, resting a soft hand on the prisoner's shoulder. The captive looked up with an expression that Lux could not quite read. Infrared vision had some major benefits, to be sure, but judging the emotions of people fifty feet away was challenging. It ended up not being an issue either way, for a winged presence appeared and interrupted all of Talon and Lux's planning.

Lux immediately saw why Talon was so good at his job. He was quite observant. By the time Lux had noticed the third man and looked to check that the assassin had too, Talon was already angled towards him, clearly conscious of his presence. The newcomer approached Talon and the General slowly, taking his time to move towards his captive, and for a few moments, Lux worried that the man could see Talon. It was almost as if the winged man approached Talon and not the General, but he stopped before the mage had enough time to determine if that was the case.

Cautiously, Talon began to rise, facing the winged man. Then, a fourth man appeared from the shadows, walking up to the winged man and taking a bold stance beside him. Immediately, Lux knew something was wrong. These were very strange actions for people who should not be able to see the assassin.

Deciding that she needed more information than was available to her with infrared vision, Lux toggled back to her normal state and found something very disturbing indeed. She could see Talon.

But how? He had not drank the elixir she had given him. It would have taken a very skilled magic user indeed to detect her illusion in the first place, but to dispel it? Glancing at the two unidentified men, Lux began to realize exactly how much danger Talon was in.

The mage was on the move in seconds. As stealthily as she could, which, granted, was not very stealthily at all, she moved down towards the entrance to the cave, if only to get a better look. It was not long before she was able to hear voices speaking, and as she stood on the bare edge of rock meeting sand, she was able to discern the entire conversation.

"You have always been such a hothead, Talon." Said the fourth man, who, until Lux had managed to relocate herself, had not recognized. Now, she knew for certain she had seen this man before. In fact, many people in Demacia had. He was Jarvan. Not Jarvan the Fourth, her old friend and Garen's own best man, but Jarvan the First, the long dead king of Demacia. Even his armor resembled the outdated designs of Demacia from years ago.

The winged figure drew a sword from a hilt at his hip. It glowed a pale green, hinting at it's magical nature, but the owner of the sword commanded much more attention than any curious weapon could. Eyeing him, Lux almost retched when she finally did get a look at the man, if she could even call him that. His skin was decaying, open pockets exposing muscle and even bone. Even the part of his skin that was still in tact was greyish brown and wrinkled, almost as if it had been dead for a very long time. The wings he sported had the same leathery looking texture as his skin, with holes and tears in random locations. Whoever he was, he looked like a decomposing corpse. It wasn't until then that Lux noticed the smell. It was rather faint, but rotting flesh was a hard scent to miss.

"My liege," The creature spoke, addressing Jarvan the First. "Please allow me to dispose of this Noxian filth."

There was something wrong with the rotting man. A certain fervor resided in his eyes, reminding Lux of a feral animal. She felt as if he might attack at any moment.

"Calm yourself, Reod." Jarvan laughed haughtily, displaying mannerism Lux had never known the Lightshields to possess. "We can still find use for this one."

As Lux watched the Demacian King, she felt it prudent to cast magic detection spell.

Dangerous though it was, there was clearly some important information she was missing, and she felt the information she would gain worth the risk of being discovered.

Quietly and as discreetly as she could, Lux channeled her energy into a detection spell. She was not surprised to find that the person pretending to be Jarvan the First was not actually Jarvan the First. She could not quite tell who the imposter actually was, but she suspected he was no ally of Demacia. She also reasoned that whoever he was, he must be an incredibly capable caster, for he had not only detected her illusions, but had dispelled them as well.

"I think you'll find I'm rather useless when I intend to be." Talon spat as he faced down his opponents, slyly drawing a dagger hidden in his sleeve. Lux could see it from her vantage point, but she doubted that either of the other men noticed.

The Jarvan imposter laughed. "We'll see if you hold the same antagonistic spite after a week of torture."

Although Lux could not see his face, she could tell by the sound of his voice that he was smirking as he said, "I'm sure you would enjoy that, wouldn't you, LeBlanc?"

At first, Lux was surprised by his observation. It seemed so random, but as the assassin taunted the imposter, Lux realized the truth in his words. Mistress of deception, conqueror of illusions, it all made sense. Except for the part about her impersonating a dead man. And her ability to dispel Lux's magic. She knew the woman was capable, but not with magic banishment.

LeBlanc, if that is who Jarvan truly was, seemed annoyed at Talon's accusation. Lux could tell he was losing control of the conversation.

Frowning, the imposter spoke harshly. "I am King Jarvan Lightshield of Demacia, and you shall treat me with all of the respect that a royal deserves, or you shall die by my blade!"

Lux could at least say that LeBlanc could play the part of a ruler very effectively.

"Please," The winged man interjected, eyes wild. "Do not lower yourself to such pedestrian duties, my liege. Allow me."

Slowly, the rotting man pointed the tip of his sword at Talon. As if the unnatural glow hadn't been a tip off, Lux could sense something otherworldly about the weapon. Though she told herself it was likely just a simple enchantment, that it was the smell of his decrepit corpse making her nauseous, a part in her knew the queasy feeling in her stomach was originating from the sword and its intent to harm Talon.

"He can do nothing to harm me, Reod." The pretender king taunted. "As he so previously stated, he is useless."

Talon was on LeBlanc in a matter of seconds. The assassin moved quickly and fervently, managing to catch the Jarvan look-alike off guard as he slashed at the body with one of his hidden daggers. Still, the deceiver was quick. He stepped away from Talon's attacks in a flash that Lux almost did not see, and certainly was not befitting of a king decked in plate mail.

But the winged man seemed to only notice one thing: an assassin attacking his king. With a raging scream, the man channeled a smoky light in his palm before directing his hand towards the assassin and swinging it rightwards, slamming Talon into a stone wall. Lux was shocked to find the corpse capable of magic. Judging by the power of his spell and trappings of his concentration, it was no simple understanding of the power. That was the work of practiced hands.

It was then that things started to click for the mage. Of course LeBlanc had not been the one to dispel her illusions. It had been the winged one who had discarded her efforts. And then there the decrepit skin, LeBlanc's impersonation of Jarvan the First… And those wings. Magically crafted wings, fleshy in appearance with no feathers whatsoever, straight from the instruction manual that was Parfuin Gúl.

The Noxian, hardened and used to dealing with sudden impacts and impressive wounds, began to stand, ready to retaliate. It is possible that Talon might have been able to hold his own against the decrepit sorcerer, and it is likely that he could have bested the man in a battle of swordsmanship. But however capable the Noxian might have been, Lux only saw the power of the winged corpse and the sickly glow of his sword, and decided that no matter how strong, fast, or skillful Talon might be, she was the one who had to save him.

She imagined all four men must have been surprised to hear a feminine voice shouting commands to Talon. Normally, Lux would have looked for their reactions, taking time to laugh at their dumb expressions, but this time, she had no time to waste. Rushing up between Talon, putting him within the five foot sphere of invisibility that not only allowed him to see her, but kept him hidden from the raging man, Lux turned to give him a short decisive order.

"Unchain your father and escape as quickly as you can." She looked fiercely into Talon's eyes. For the first time since she had met the man, he looked up to her with surprise on his face, while an intense expression lay on her own. "I will not be able to keep them distracted for long."

"I won't leave you here." He stated, as if it were a simple truth.

"Then don't keep me waiting." Lux replied, and she began her magic.

The first was a blinding spell, the same one she had used on the rainy streets of Noxus so many years ago. It would be her most effective spell, for it would keep her enemies from seeing either her or Talon even after the sorcerer dispelled her invisibility shroud, which she imagined he would do immediately upon realizing what was going on.

After she finished channeling, Lux was pleased to find that the Jarvan character seemed completely disoriented. The winged one, however, was not so much. His eyes were closed, granted, but she could see the dark magic channeling in his hands.

Immediately, Lux shot out her next spell, a light binding that should keep the perpetrators where they stood. It went off successfully, and the mage was beginning to think that her crazy plan might actually work. Taking a daring moment to glance back at Talon's progress, Lux was surprised to find that the assassin had made quick work of the first handcuff, and had already started on the second.

As she turned back to face the winged monster, her eyes went wide as she realized he was no longer snared. Neither was he blinded. Eyebrows furrowed and snarl growling, the fuming monster was headed straight for her and Talon, and it was then that she realized her invisibility was gone too.

Sensing the need to keep her fight away from Talon, Lux sprinted to the other side of the cave all the while channeling a third spell. She released it, hoping it's intended effect, to stun the pursuer, would see realization, but she was dismayed to find that the man was undisturbed by her stunt. Glancing back at Talon, she saw that he was just beginning to open the second cuff. She would only need to distract him a little longer.

But distract she did not. In fact, Lux realized she had made a grave mistake in her movement. While the winged man no doubt found her a nuisance, his attention was still directed at the assassin. Talon seemed to recognize this, and he easily dodged the first slash that came his way. Lux seized that opportunity to rush back to the other side of the cave, hoping to help the assassin in what little way she could now that her magic was being blocked.

She nearly made it. Talon dodged every blow. Lux landed every step. Both were determined to see their plan through to the end, to make it out alive, but, at just the last moment, as Lux was reaching the winged figure's backside, she saw Talon's life flash before her eyes.

A dark magic emanated from the sorcerer's hands and slithered out to strangle around Talon, binding him in some sort of odd constriction and holding him before the corpse in a manner that made killing him far too easy.

Lux had never moved so fast in her entire life. She was never a fleet-footed woman, nor was she a quick-fingered girl, but in that moment, she could have put even the most practiced of professionals to shame. The mage extracted a potion of utmost importance from her backpack, poured the contents into her mouth, and let the glass vial clatter onto the stone as she sprinted for Talon.

She could tell the man was opening his mouth in rage, certainly to order her to stay the hell away, to ask her why she was being so foolish, to order her to save herself and his father. But she had never been one to listen to Talon's orders. So instead of doing as she knew he wished, she pressed her hands to his face and kissed him.

The liquid passed easily into his mouth. Lux barely registered him swallow before an excruciating pain radiated from her waist. The slash of a sword moved all the way across her back, cutting deep and relentlessly, intending to wound, but not to kill. She screamed out a ghastly sound as she dropped to the floor succumbing to her wound.

Lux had faced serious blade injuries before. She knew the wound should not hurt as much as it did. She knew she should not feel the pain reaching up to her heart, threatening to rip all of the blood from her body. She knew she should not feel as if her brain were about to burst from her skull, as if her mind were being pulled away. She knew she should not feel as if her soul were being torn apart.

Pushing back against the external force with a sense of willpower that Lux had never before experienced, the kind of resolve that only surfaces when one is about to lose their life, Lux tried to expel the demon suffocating her. She summoned all of the magic she possessed, all of the energy left in her, all of her newfound resolve. With it she channeled, concentrating the magic into a form that was no spell, but rather one last attempt to keep herself alive.

"Faercrist." She managed to breathe, hoping to warn Talon of the sword's capabilities. Lux was not certain if the assassin heard her, for the voice that emanated from her throat was so weak and raspy, she could barely register it herself.

She didn't have time to give him any more warnings or advice. A haze was falling over her, and soon the mage lost consciousness. The last thing she heard was a livid voice growl "bastard" just before the world went black.

* * *

Talon had never in his life been such a fool. Not that he hadn't done foolish things before, no he was a teenage boy once. He'd done very many foolish things in his time, but nothing could quite compare to risking the lives of the two people he cared for most.

His father had made it back just fine. In fact, it had been his father who had ultimately saved him and Lux from almost certain death, decapitating the demented wizard known as Reod at a very important moment in the fight. Following that, LeBlanc had been easy enough to deal with. With her plans foiled and faced with two extremely vicious Du Couteau's, she had fled without a second thought. The woman had never been particularly brave, which explained why she would resort to using a dying sorcerer to try and capture him.

Marcus had been able to clear up a great many of Talon's questions, such as how he had disappeared in the first place, why LeBlanc cared about capturing him, and who the flying fuck Reod was. But, ultimately, none of that mattered to Talon. True, he had his father back, and he would trade almost anything in the world to have him. Almost anything.

Whether or not he would trade the life of Luxanna Crownguard was something he was still waiting to find out.

It was amazing to him that in such a short amount of time the woman had come to mean such a great deal to him. Normally, the assassin would have blamed the feelings on her feminine attributes, such as her nice ass or pert tits, but he knew the shape of her body had little to do with why he nearly choked on tears every time he thought about her. He'd never been a very emotional man either.

What ate at him the most was that he'd once threatened to kill her if she didn't forge the exact sword that had sent her into this two week coma in the first place. If there was one thing he could change in the whole shit storm of things that had happened since he joined the League of Legends, it would be that. To know that she might die with that threat still hanging in the air, unresolved… To know that she might die at all…

The assassin swallowed uncomfortably, trying to hold back the salty water that threatened to seep from his eyes. Fortunately enough for him, a newcomer made a presence on the hospital balcony at which he was currently hold up.

"Try not to think about it too much, son." A familiar voice rang out. Talon hated how his father could always read his mind.

"I'm such a fool." Talon admitted, not turning to face the man. Instead he looked out onto the clean streets of Demacia. It was far too nice of a day, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, for him to be so melancholy.

"Well," Marcus mused thoughtfully. "If being a fool is going to make you as emotional as the fat lady at an opera, I would suggest not being a fool anymore."

Turning, the assassin frowned at his father. He was chuckling to himself.

"You're a fucking sage, you are." Talon muttered.

"Runs in the family." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Let me impart a little wisdom on to you, my son."

The younger man nodded halfheartedly, knowing there would be no way of stopping the man, even if he had wanted to.

"It's not every day that a man can fuck up as grandly as you have," He started, doing little to make Talon feel any less emotional. "And still get a second chance to see her."

Talon almost missed the hidden connotation in his words. He opened his mouth to shoot another retort at his father, but halted when he realized what he was saying.

For the second time that day, the elder man read his mind.

"She's asking for you."

Talon was in the hallway in a matter of seconds. He sprinted, dodging through nurses and patients alike, desperate to see the woman he had spent far too much time worrying about.

He was panting when he finally did reach her room. Slowly, her head turned in his direction, as if curious to who the newcomer might be. Her light blonde hair still held all of the gorgeous sheen it always had and her pale skin almost seemed to glow in the florescent lighted room. As her face turned to meet his, her wide blue eyes finally connecting with his own, a rush of emotions shocked through his heart, and, for the first time in a very, very long time, the assassin felt himself blush.

* * *

"Talon!" She exclaimed with excitement. Lux had been hoping he would arrive soon; she'd been awake for the better part of an hour, but apparently delivering a message to one elusive assassin was a rather difficult task.

The man looked at her with an intensity that was quickly becoming one of his defining characteristics. Despite how familiar the look was, how she recognized the thoughts rushing through his mind as his eyes roved over her entire face, appreciating every line, every crease, the mage could still feel the world beginning to fade away.

He approached her swiftly, walking right up to her side, and it wasn't long before his hands cupped around her face and he bent to kiss her softly on the lips.

It was the most chaste kiss he had ever given her, but it was also the best.

After a few moments of their flesh simply connecting, Talon withdrew, still regarding her with fierce eyes.  
A blush burned on Lux's face as she realized everyone else in the room, Garen, Katarina, her mother, her father, even Ezreal, were staring. Talon didn't seem to notice.

"I'm sorry." Was the first thing out of his mouth.

Surprised by his sudden apology, Lux quickly realized she and the Noxian assassin would need a private minute to chat.

"Um," She looked sheepishly towards her parents. "I think we need a moment alone, if you would."

Her father nodded knowingly and ushered all of her visitors out of the hospital room, including Ezreal, who looked like he was about to kill a man.

Turning back to the assassin, Lux was not surprised to find that his eyes still had not left her.

"There's no reason for you to be sorry, Talon." She smiled reassuringly. Lux didn't quite know what had gotten into him, but she placed no blame on the man.

"There most certainly is." He responded adamantly. "I almost lost you."

The blush Lux had been sporting moments earlier was nothing compared to the one she wore after Talon's bold declaration.

"I have a knack for getting myself into trouble." She shrugged lightheartedly. "Think, without you to save me, I might have ended up worse off."

Talon looked unconvinced, but given the soft curve of his brow, she could tell he wasn't going to fight her about it.

"Besides," Lux shot him a devious look. "Since I nearly had my soul ripped from my body trying to save you, I think you owe me your life."

The assassin chuckled. "Consider me indebted."

"Well, I have a few ideas on ways that you can repay your debt."

Talon raised an eyebrow.

"Not like that, you pervert!" She squealed indignantly. "I have a couple questions I want answered."

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, the assassin regarded her with a sly smile. "Ever the curious one."

"Let's start with the beginning." Lux stated. "How did your father fall into LeBlanc's hands?"

"It's much as I had originally expected." Talon replied easily. "He did venture into Sai to investigate a connection between the Black Rose and the Darkin. We saw the cave he found, but, at the time, LeBlanc was not aware of the location. Instead, she had sent some of her minions to follow Marcus until he found the cave, then she captured him, no doubt to help Swain attain his current position of General."

"And how does the deranged wizard play into all of this?"

"I think you should be able to answer that yourself."

"Well, I suspect that he is the author of Parfuin Gúl, that he was hold up in the cave always trying to summon one of his Darkin Gods… Judging based on the magic I read about in that book, I believe that Faercrist kept him alive well beyond his normal years. He probably imbued his own soul in the sword. It's a wonder you managed to kill him."

"You'd be surprised how effective a simple beheading is." Talon shrugged.

Lux shuddered at the thought. "I guess that would explain why LeBlanc was in disguise as Jarvan the First, Reod, I think his name was, was supposedly the king's favorite mage. But I'm still missing the part where your father ends up in the cave."

"Well, it turns out I wasn't discreet enough with my plans." Talon sighed. "There's just about nothing you can keep from LeBlanc, she has eyes everywhere. She had set my father as a captive there when she found out I was headed their a couple of months ago, and, from what my father tells me, he had been held captive there until we came to rescue him."

"Why was LeBlanc trying to capture you?" Lux wondered.

"Probably a mixture of wanting to reclaim Parfuin Gúl and wanting to keep me from solving more of her mystery. That and Swain probably wanted me locked up for good, where no amount of Noxian scruples could keep me from escaping. I think he's trying to secure all of the Du Couteaus." The assassin sighed.

"Wait a minute. I thought you said Swain didn't know where your father was." Lux accused.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that was why he was trying to get you in jail, back when we got framed for the Jenkins incident. But if he's working with LeBlanc, and LeBlanc had your father, then he would know where he was. So why try to get you in jail?"

"To be honest I still haven't figured that one out." Talon admitted. "I think he was trying to confuse me, to divert me from the real tracks. If so, it was pretty ingenious. Kept me unaware for the better part of two years."

"Hmmm." Lux mumbled, unconvinced.

The assassin laughed. "There are some mysteries that can never be solved, Lux."

"Nonsense!" She exclaimed. "It's not like he put us both on that mission just so that we would happen to fall in lo-"

A blush burned on her face immediately as she began to realize what she was about to say.

The assassin just chuckled. The same dark chuckle she had first heard him produce from his rumbly through nearly three years ago when she had failed to simply pick a pair of keys up from the floor.

"Bastard." The mage muttered when she finally did regain her words.

"Come now, Lux." He smirked. "Is that any way to treat the man that you supposedly love?"

"Yes." She affirmed adamantly. "Especially if he is acting like a bastard."

The assassin smiled warmly, but she could tell there was still something deep tugging in his eyes. It was guilt.

"I meant what I said when I said I was sorry." He said, abruptly changing the tone of the conversation.

"I should have never coerced you into coming on this dangerous mission, I should have never drug you out to Shurima without proper protection." His voice grew soft. "I should never have threatened to kill you for refusing to make me a sword that would have turned me into a rotting corpse."

"You're not going to kill me, Talon." She replied tenderly. "You've told me so yourself many times before."

"For two weeks I wondered if you would make a liar out of me." He muttered quietly.

"I'd never do that to you." Slowly, Lux reached for his hand, grabbing it gently and stroking the backside. "I'm the liar in this relationship, not you."

"How can I trust you then?" He asked with a small smile.

"I don't know." She smirked. "But I think you'll find a way. And I think it starts with taking me to dinner. Friday night. At seven."

A devious grin started to pull on his lips. "Seducing me, Crownguard?"

And, for the first time in Lux's life, she recognized herself as guilty of committing the heinous act. "Don't you see, Talon? I've been seducing you all along."


	12. Blushing Bride

_Author's Note: Hey y'all, it's been a while! Surely you can tell it's been a while since I just said y'all... I live in the south now, but that's a different story for a different time._

 _Anyways, it had been some time, but I have finally found a plot for this smutilogue I can be happy with. Not going to lie, I went through seven or eight ideas for this but nothing really stuck... Until now! It's not as PWP as I thought it would be, but perhaps that's a good thing. In fact I briefly thought about just writing a sequel instead, but I decided against it, gotta cut Sub Rosa off somewhere. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **The Smutilogue: Blushing Bride**

Her dress was the purest white he'd ever seen. It reminded him of a lily; simple, soft, delicate. Occasionally he'd catch a glimpse of one of her white satin pumps, classic and traditional like the woman who wore them. Her train was long and trailing and her veil seemed to shield her from the soft light of the setting winter sun. That golden blonde hair of hers was pinned up intricately and adorned with little white flowers. To say that she was beautiful on the day of her wedding would have been a massive understatement.

Just looking at her made his heart stop.

Talon had once imagined what she'd look like on her wedding day. Her smile would be bright and shining, her sweet blue eyes unwavering and full of promise. She would be in love, and all the expensive fabric in the world could not compare to the shy look she'd wear when she'd speak her vows to him. But, as she approached the altar, he could tell his fantasy was nothing near the reality.

Her eyes were full of uncertainty, her fingers trembled with nerves. She didn't want this.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two extraordinary people, two noble houses, two loving souls." The priest began gently.

Talon scoffed at the notion. Just look at the way she regarded him. Uncertain. She didn't love him.

But the priest pressed on, completely unaware of Talon's existence. He sat perched on the east wing of the Crownguard Manor, overlooking the expensive looking garden. Talon could have had a proper seat at the wedding if he had wanted. Supposedly she was his sister-in-law, his own sister and her husband sat in the very front row. But that's not what Talon wanted. None of this was what Talon wanted.

"I think it's time to kill the lights." Leblanc said through his comms.

"We can wait just a moment longer." Swain's gruff voice replied. "Talon. Are you in position?"

"Yeah." He muttered, watching the almost-married couple exchange rings.

"Looks like our favorite assassin isn't too happy at the moment." Leblanc goaded.

"Shut up." He shot back. Not his most eloquent reply, but he didn't really care.

"Cool it, you two." Swain grumbled. "There's history between all of us here, but don't let that get in the way of our mission. Remember why we are here."

Like Talon could forget. His woman was about to be married to another man. A posh, prissy Demacian. He just couldn't stand it.

"Clocks ticking, Swain." Darius chimed in. "We best be on our way if we're to secure the prince."

"Very well." The general replied. "Leblanc, kill the lights."

And just like that, just as the sun crept behind the soft Demacian hills, all that gave light to the garden suddenly failed. The priest stopped in his tracks. Murmurs were to be heard throughout the crowd, and it wasn't long before Garen got up and started to interrogate people.

Talon watched as they scrambled, but his coworkers wasted no time. Darius barged through the doors leading out to the garden and quickly attracted the attention of all the onlookers.

"Hahaha." He boomed. "What's this? Another silly Demacian wedding?"

Jarvan stepped forward from the altar, leaving Lux behind him.

"How dare you interrupt my wedding!" He shouted. "I'll have your head!"  
Mayhem ensued.

Holding her dress up to keep from tripping, Lux trotted over to the nearest lamp post, presumably to light it with her magic, but Talon would have none of that.

Getting off the roof and positioning himself by the blushing bride was a trivial manner. Like anyone would notice. The night was his element.

She held her hand gingerly out to the lamp, and began to channel magic into it, but only for a split second. Next thing she knew, her mouth was cupped and her hand under his control.

* * *

Fear shocked through her. She was being kidnapped. Someone had her by the mouth, and his hand covered hers, almost gently. He pulled it away from the lamp she was trying to light, down to her side and let it rest there. What was going on?

"That has to be the ugliest wedding dress I've ever seen." A familiar voice rumbled in her ear.

She swiveled on him immediately, eyebrows furrowing. Lux tried to yell at him, but all that got through was muffled sounds.

He chuckled. It was his signature chuckle. How long had it been since she'd last heard it? Three years? Four?

"In Noxus we have a tradition," He mused. "The family has to approve the wedding dress. There's no way in hell I'd approve this monstrosity."

Reaching up to grab a hold of his wrists, she tried to wrench his hand away. He didn't budge. Instead, he pressed his free hand up to his left ear, almost as if he were listening to a comm. Then, after a moment of fiddling, he threw something onto the ground, and crushed it with his foot.

"Time to go." He muttered.

The next thing Lux knew, she'd been thrown over his shoulder and was sailing through the trees. She'd forgotten how strong he was, and how fast he was. Whether or not she'd like to admit it, the man was an excellent study in physical greatness.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" She shouted as soon as her mouth had been released.

No response.

"Let me go, Talon!" She screamed.

Again, no response. Typical.

She tried several more attempts to talk to him, but all she got was dead silence. It was about half an hour before Lux found herself on her feet again. She was in the middle of the forest, by the judge of things. Talon plopped her down on the ground unceremoniously and immediately began digging in his bag.

"I would really like to know what on earth is going on!" She said forcefully, looking angrily at her kidnapper.

Instead of responding, he threw a bundle of what looked like clothes at her feet and said simply, "Change."

"No!" She protested. "I want answers!"

But all that Talon did was smirk. At least, she thought that's what he did, it was hard to say in the dark.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He replied huskily.

Pulling her up to her feet, he held her by her arms, looking down at her almost longingly.

It was then she realized what he intended to do.

"No! Absolutely not!"

He chuckled again.

Lux let out a frustrated sigh and bent to pick up the clothing.

"Turn around, you asshole."

He laughed, but afforded her this.

All that he had brought her was a simple shirt, jacket, and trousers. Nothing glamorous or expensive, but the outfit was begrudgingly more comfortable than her wedding dress. He'd even provided her with a decent pair of walking shoes. How they fit, she had no idea at first, but then she vaguely remembered Katarina sharing her shoe size.

"Ok, I'm done."

She could swear he was smiling. Slowly, he sauntered up to her and slid his arm around her waist.

"Now, we walk."

"Like I'm going anywhere with you!" She protested.

"Come now, Lux. I'd really hate to carry you into town, it would look positively barbaric."

"Good!" She exclaimed. "Because guess what, Talon! You are a barbarian!"

"I'll make you a deal." He bargained. "If you tell me right now that you honestly love that pathetic excuse for a man you were about to marry, then I will march you right back to your house and leave you alone for the rest of your life."

"That's unfair and you know it!" Everyone and their uncle knew it was an arranged marriage. There was no way she could love Jarvan already. Those sort of things take time.

"I'll take that as a no then." He could not hide the triumph in his voice. "C'mon, we have a boat to catch."

* * *

For a kidnapped bride, she wasn't putting up much of a protest. Talon took that as a good sign, a sign that secretly she wanted him back. It was foolish, he knew, to think in such a way, but there was no helping it. When he grabbed hold of her hand and led her through the trees into the port town of Coventry, when she gently held back, just like she had when they'd been together, he knew there was no way he could keep his feelings in check.

They walked in silence through the small town and right up to the pier where a riverboat was docked. When he met the dockmaster, he exchanged two tickets for a key and admission and boarded the gangplank where he led the woman of his dreams onto a ship headed nowhere.

"Wait here for a second." He said as he approached their cabin, stopping a minute to drop his heavy backpack off in the room. Inside he took a small minute to look in the mirror and smooth out his hair.

He was vaguely surprised to see her still waiting there when he stepped back outside. She regarded him with sad eyes. Damn it, she was going to cry.

Quickly, he pulled her inside the cabin and into his arms. She let him do it too. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, Lux in his arms gently, Talon comforting the woman who was no longer his, but should have been.

Sweet music from a string quartet upstairs floated down to their room. The ship rocked softly from the waves. Dim lights illuminated the room in a romantic fashion. None of this was to his taste, but the string lights hung around the railing, the old charming wood of the riverboat… These were all things she would love. Sometime ago he'd imagined what their honeymoon would have been like.

It would have been much like this.

They began to sway to the music. Hands that had been at his chest slowly crept up around his neck, and her cheek rested softly against his shoulder. She danced with him slowly and amorously to the tune "Unforgettable".

"I'm sorry." He whispered softly.

A small snuggle and quiet tears were her only response.

* * *

Waking up next to Talon was almost like going back in time. Her head rested pressed to his shoulder, her hand wound around his bicep. She hadn't slept with him. She hadn't even taken off her clothes. Even though the previous night had been a real blur, she still remembered much of it. The riverboat, the woods, the wedding… Her family was probably worried sick about her.

Sitting up and looking down on the man she realized it would have been just too easy to pretend this was all part of the plan. He was full of promise, full of romance, and it killed her to admit that a large part of her wanted him back.

"Good morning." He grumbled as he shifted in the bed.

"Talon, you have to take me home."

He looked as if he'd been shot.

Sitting up immediately, he looked at her with fiery eyes. "Like hell I do!"

"My family must be worried sick about me!" She reasoned. "I have duties to them."

"Duties like marrying some stuck up prick."

"Just because you can do whatever the fuck you want doesn't mean I can!" She almost yelled at him. "My family means the world to me, I can't just leave them!"

His eyes narrowed on her. He didn't understand this part of her, and she knew it. Talon was a solitary man, the connection he had with his family was quite strong, but it had more to do with loyalty than anything else. She loved her family, she'd do anything for them, like marry Jarvan. Talon just couldn't comprehend that.

"You don't have to let them govern your life." He said in disgust. "You're your own woman, Lux. Make some decisions for yourself, damn it."

"I did!" She exclaimed boldly. "I was ready to marry _you_ , or do you not remember?"

* * *

Of course he fucking remembered. It had been the happiest fucking day of his life.

"I could never forget." He responded reservedly, regarding the woman with intense eyes. She looked gorgeous in the bright morning light. Her lips were full and red, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if they still felt the same.

"Then don't tell me I let them govern my life!" She shot back. "Marrying Jarvan was a calculated decision."

"That's bullshit!" He responded angrily. "Marriage shouldn't be calculated, it should be passionate!"

She started to pull the covers away from her. "We had passion, look where that landed us."

"Had?" He questioned as he straddled her thigh and thwarted her escape attempt.

"Talon." She shot him a warning look. It seemed she was in no mood for games.

But Talon was nothing if not a bold man. He reached out to cradle her neck and slowly bent his face down to her jaw, giving her a soft kiss. She pushed his face away, until it was hovering just above hers. He saw defiance in her eyes. Defiance, and doubt.

* * *

His kiss was not gentle. They never had been, but this one was so full of need, so full of longing she could almost pretend this was the first meeting of their lips. He nipped at her lower lip, trying to get into the mouth she was so reluctant to open. She almost kept him at bay, almost pushed him away and withdrew from the dangerous situation, but then his knee pressed in between her legs, a small gasp left her mouth, and Talon had his opening.

Lux couldn't help but snake her arms around his neck as his tongue ran under hers, sending shivers down her spine. He'd always had a way of undoing her, and years later he still possessed that quality. His hands settled at her hips and lifted her slowly so that she straddled his lap. She knew that Talon loved this position.

Strong hands urged her hips to grind against him, and Lux could not help but release another shaky sigh at the action.

"Talon." She breathed uncertainly. "This is…"

This time it was Lux who repeated the motion, her hands winding in his hair, her mouth hovering near his ear. How long had it been since she'd felt like this?

"Dangerous?" He suggested, his hands moving slowly up her sides. "Tantalizing? Exactly what you wanted?"

He flicked her hardened nipple playfully and Lux could not help but release a wanton moan.

Talon released a shaky groan in response. She was testing his patience and she knew it. The next thing she knew, Talon had placed her on the bed and he was standing, and stripping.

"No, Talon, we're not sleeping together." She said in what she hoped was a firm voice.

"Oh, it's far too late for that." He sported a sinister smirk that Lux had no business being attracted to. It sent jolts of pleasure through her gut all the same.

She bolted out of bed immediately, her hands on his as he began to unbutton his shirt.

"Talon, I'm serious!" She cried in what definitely was not a convincingly serious tone.

A chuckle was his response, his hands ignoring hers and instead coming to the hem of her shirt. He took it off with one swift stroke, unhooked and removed her bra, and proceeded to turn her around so that her back was almost touching his.

At first Lux was hoping, yes hoping, he'd hold her and tease her from behind, just like he used to, but instead he grabbed her wrists and held them together behind her back.

"Talon?" She questioned, feeling the soft fabric of her shirt being twisted around her wrists. "Are you binding my wrists?"

Yes was the obvious answer to that question. She didn't need any confirmation, within seconds her wrists were securely tied together.

* * *

The look she gave him over her shoulder was priceless. Uncertain, curious. He'd never tied her up before, but he'd always suspected she might enjoy it. They'd fucked plenty of times in the past; she never blushed anymore. But, if he wasn't mistaken, there was a pink tint to her cheeks as she regarded him with wondering blue eyes.

Pulling her back to him, he settled her backside into him, enjoying the soft feel of her body, even through her trousers. Her bound hands were dangerously close to a certain area of his, and he found it almost impossible to keep his desires in check. Almost.

Reaching around to her front, he began to unzip her pants.

"Talon!" She exclaimed.

They were on the ground in a matter of seconds. He gave her ass a slap for good measure.

"You've always had the silkiest legs, Lux." He appreciated. "Now, be a good girl and bend over for me."

"As if!" She retorted. Oh it was just like her to put up a fight. He loved it.

With his hand placed where her neck met her back, he pushed her up to the bed and continued until her chest lay flat against the sheets. Placing his hands on either side of her head, he bent down to her ear and whispered gently.

"If you do as you're told, I might just let you come."

He could see the blush burning brightly on the side of her face. She eyed him with rage.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"I'm aware." He shrugged. "Stay there, will you? I'd hate to see you stand up straight and put an end to this party we're having."

As he pulled back, he was surprised to find that Lux did not put up a protest. Perhaps she was as horny as he was. To his knowledge, she hadn't been with another man since him. Unless you counted Jarvan, which Talon didn't. He heavily suspected, and very much wanted to believe, that that prissy Demacian hadn't laid a hand on the flat flesh of her stomach, that he hadn't felt the silk of her inner thighs. Just the thought of another man enjoying Lux in bed made him want to scream.

His hands hooked around her white lace undies and gingerly pulled them down her soft legs. In the back of his mind he vaguely remembered these were the undies she was supposed to wear on her wedding night, for a different man. But who was here now? Who got the pleasure of removing them? He almost scoffed at the notion that she could ever be with anyone else.

He couldn't help but give her pert ass another little slap. How arousing she looked, lying there, her ass taunting him, asking to be fucked. The sight alone made him twitch with excitement.

* * *

Lux heard the unmistakable sound of a belt buckle being undone. She knew what was next to follow, and while there was no doubt in her mind she could stop it if she wanted, and she really knew she should, she just couldn't find it in herself to do so. He'd done a tip top job of arousing her, and truth be told it had been years since a man had pleasured her. She borderline needed this.

She felt his cock slide in between her thighs, right under her core, just right there, and could not help but let out a shaky sigh. Her hands clenched into fists and her knees grew weak as he began to thrust, the tip of his cock rubbing against her clit, teasing more pleasure. Just as she began to lose herself in the sensation of it all, his left hand steadied at her hip, his back pressed against hers, and his breath tickled along her neck.

A deft finger found it's way to one of her breasts, tickling along her nipple. She let out a less than quiet moan.

"Lux," He breathed in a humor tone. "Don't get too loud now, someone might hear."

With that he began to thrust harder, more vigorously, and Lux did just the opposite of quiet down. Her eyes were squeezed shut and sighs of appreciation were a constant stream through her mouth. Without warning, Talon suddenly withdrew and Lux could not help but whimper.

For a few moments, he didn't touch her at all. It took a moment for her to realize that he was walking over to the other side of the bed. He sat down casually.

"Stand up." He ordered.

She rose to her full height to find Talon relaxing casually on the bed, his hands behind his head, as if he were lounging on the beach.

Shooting her a lazy smirk, he spoke to her in a dangerously husky voice. "Come here."

* * *

Her tits bounced with every step she took. How he loved the sight of it. She walked over around to his side, and stopped to stand next to him.

He laughed easily. "Well don't stop there."

The look on her face was priceless. Her pliant mouth was agape, her nipples perky, her skin soft looking. He wanted her to ride him, and she knew it.

Without too much difficulty, she climbed onto the bed and straddled him. She hovered over him timidly, almost as if she was having second thoughts, but Talon would not stand for it.

Gently, he placed his hands at her hips and guided her onto him. Her eyes closed shut at the feeling, and knowing that he could cause her so much pleasure almost felt better than the soft feeling of her walls around him. Almost.

He didn't even need to tell her to start moving, she did it of her own accord. Seemingly absorbed in the sensation of it all, she began to grind and bounce against him, drawing gruff groans from his own mouth. Slowly, his hands crawled up her back and pulled her down to him. Her mouth settled near his ear, her breathy moans streaming in constantly. He loved it when she moaned in his ear, it was one of the most erotic things he knew.

Her pace began to quicken, her thighs tightening around his hips. Talon could not help but grip her ass firmly as he began to feel the oncoming of his own climax, and it wasn't long before Lux let out a final gasp of pleasure, and Talon's own cum soon followed. She collapsed on his chest, panting heavily.

"Untie me." She ordered.

Talon afforded her this, deftly undoing the knot in her shirt he'd used to keep her wrists bound.

After having her hands freed, she settled them on his chest and curled up into his side. It felt so natural, like they belonged together. How she could think of marrying another man, he had no idea.

"Will you take me back to Demacia now?" She wanted to know.

* * *

Yes it was kind of an odd statement after sleeping with a man she hadn't even talked to for the better part of for years, but she hoped that now their sexual tension had been released, she could go back to her normal life.

"No." He responded firmly.

She scoffed at him, but did not move. "Talon I can't just run away with you, I have obligations to people I love."

"You love me, don't you?" He wanted to know.

Now that was a hard question to answer. Deep in her heart she knew that yes, she did, but what good would come of admitting that?

"It's not that simple, Talon." She muttered. "You're not in my life anymore."

"I was in you just a moment ago." He pointed out. "Kind of feels like I'm pretty fucking in your life right now."

"Talon, I want to get married." Lux sighed. She wanted more than that, too. Talon knew it, it was why she'd refused him.

"I'll marry you." He grumbled, almost as if he knew what was next to come.

"And have kids with me? Raise a family?"

The assassin grew quiet. He knew this was what she wanted, and there was no way Lux would relinquish on it. She wanted children, and that was that.

But the question Talon posed next totally caught her off guard.

"Are you on birth control?" He wanted to know.

"No, I uh…" She'd gone off it recently in preparation for her wedding.

"I guess you didn't put on a condom, did you?" She realized belatedly.

"Nope."

"But you, you didn't…" Had he planned this? "Did you know I wasn't on birth control?"

"I suspected."

"And you still…" She was growing lightheaded. Was it possible he'd changed his mind? Was she pregnant? There was no way she could catch a husband if she was pregnant. Of course there were medications for unexpected pregnancies and the sort, but if she was… Would she be able to abort a pregnancy the only man she'd ever loved had given her?

* * *

She sat up abruptly and began to dress. Talon knew she'd need some time to mull over what he'd told her. Granted, it hadn't been his master plan to fuck her and then tell her he was willing to have children with her, but one thing had led to another, and well… When Lux was in the picture self-control had never been a very strong asset of his.

He let her leave the room. She needed her space to digest what she'd been told, Talon knew that. This was the woman he'd loved for ten years, he knew her well enough to know how she wanted to be treated.

Sometime later, Talon found her on the deck of the riverboat, looking wistfully out on the water. She was still lost in thought, but he suspected he'd given her enough time.

He hooked his arm around her waist in what he hoped was a comforting manner. Gathering by the way she leaned into him, his tactic had worked.

"Marry me." Talon said gruffly. He'd never been one to over do anything simple, and a proposal was no different.

"Ok."

He turned to stare at her in disbelief. She shot him a shy smile.

"What are you looking at me like that for, I said ok…"

"I thought you'd put up more of a fight." He admitted.

"You'll raise a family with me, won't you?"

"I'd give you the world if I could." He paused a second. "I was foolish to think I could live without you. The past for years have been some of the most miserable in my life."

"So, that's a yes?" She wanted to know.

"Of course it's a fucking yes, Lux." He caught her face in his palms. "I can't guarantee I'll be the best husband, but I'll do all that I can for you. You know that, right?"

She smiled up at him tenderly. It wasn't a bright smile, or a shy smile. It was a smile that looked like a setting winter sun, full of pastel colors that whispered of softness, a calm air that brought about a certain serenity. It wasn't warm, but neither was it cold, more that heat had nothing to do with it. All that resided in that smile was peace.

"Yes, I do."


End file.
